Predator:Birth of a hunter
by Raptor-Chick
Summary: A nearly dead Predator is discovered by 2 young humans. Later, on his way home he has to deal with the problem of hitchhikers... Rated for language and violence.FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

_Here's my new fanfic (finally)! Hope you like it and don't forget to review lots! If anyone can think of a title for this, please tell me. Rawr, the selective writer's block strikes again. I have no problem writing this(There's already more than 14 chapters written), I just can't think of a title. Anyway, enjoy!_

_Ki'cti-pa: Wrist blades._

_Pauk-de: Fucker or fucking._

_Ki'its-pa: Retractable spear._

_Kainde Amedha Chiva: Hard Meat Trial, the Blooding Hunt._

_H'sai-de: Curved sword._

_Shuriken: Throwing star._

_Oomans: Humans._

_Guan-Thwei: Night-Blood._

Chapter 1

A large, sleek ship hurtled through the blue-blackness of space towards the blue planet. The interior was bathed in dull orange light and a white mist swirled around the floor. On a computer screen, angular red glyphs appeared, scrolling down rapidly. A loud beep was emitted by the computer and the scrolling stopped abruptly. A chamber opened with a loud hiss and a tall figure stepped out, stretching and yawning. It sat down in front of the computer and began to tap out commands.

Guan-Thwei growled softly to himself. He hated re-entry with a passion! The bumping, the shaking and the landing usually made him quite ill. He strode over to his armory and removed a suit of netting. The Yautja warrior shook it out and began to put it on. He remembered his first re-entry vividly: On an early training hunt, Guan-Thwei threw up in front of his age-mates, teacher and father. He had never been so embarrassed in his life. He still was not allowed to forget it! To prove that his sensitive stomach was not a sign of weakness, he worked extra hard in training. Guan-Thwei finished putting on the netting and began shifting around and stretching to check if it fitted correctly. The netting was a very important part of the battle gear. Not only was it useful for hanging small trophies, teeth and claws on, it provided an anchor for some of the armor and padding, could generate heat when it was cold and was part of the cloaking device. Guan-Thwei sighed as he remembered his Kainde Amedha Chiva: Guan-Thwei had nearly been the first cull because a roiling stomach had prevented him from noticing a concealed Hard Meat. He still sported five long scars on his back and another on his left thigh. He buckled on armor for his legs and attached several small pouches under the plates for shuriken. Next he put on a wide belt with holders for trophies and a sheath and h'sai-de. Guan-Thwei swore angrily as the computer announced that re-entry would occur in ten minutes. He lifted on the back and shoulder armor with the various sheaths and holders for his knives, Smart Disc, ki'its-pa and medi kit. Lastly, Guan-Thwei selected a plasma caster from the weapons rack and attached it to his shoulder. To think that when he first began training in full gear he found it difficult! Now he barely felt the weight. The computer signaled that re-entry would occur in five minutes and the warrior scarcely resisted the urge to hurl a dagger into it's voice generator. He performed a quick check on his cloaking device and slid his ki'cti-pa in and out a few times. Then he grabbed his mask and headed to the cockpit.

The ship shook violently as it plowed it's way through the blue planet's atmosphere. Flames spat and licked around the hull. Inside, Guan-Thwei's stomach clenched and he swore viciously at the computer calmly reciting data about the ship. Several farmers gaped in astonishment as the ship hurtled into view for a few seconds, and then vanished.

The ship slammed into the ground, throwing Guan-Thwei around. He scrabbled at his harness until the button released. The warrior half ran and half staggered out, not bothering to check for Oomans. He hardly had the mask off when a choking wave of vomit rose in his throat. After he finished voiding his stomach of its contents he rolled over onto his back, staring at the sky and gasping. The air was far too thin, but Guan-Thwei could not put the mask on until he could be sure that he wouldn't barf in it. More time passed and he finally felt well enough to get up. This attack didn't last as long as it usually does, he mused, perhaps I'm even getting used to it. But he doubted it. He was only lucky this time. Guan-Thwei checked the ship's own cloaking device and set off for the near-by ooman city.

…..

Nightfall. Guan-Thwei sucked in a breath, smelling through the filters in his mask the scent of the oomans, the cool night air, and unpleasantly, garbage, exhaust from the vehicles and rot. The silly oomans had polluted their planet, making the air even more unbreathable, fouling the earth and water. Slowly they were realizing this, so perhaps they were not completely stupid. He stood up and leaped to a lower ledge, a rather intriguing group of oomans was passing. He leaned forwards and zoomed in on them, clicking his mandibles eagerly. They walked along the centre of the sidewalk, forcing others to go around them. They wore leather and chains and radiated confidence. Experience had shown him that these were often good prey, good fighters. The group of oomans met another group and exchanged something, then separated. Guan-Thwei itched to kill them, but he was only observing for now. In a few days, he could begin his terror tactics; he could begin to flush out the most desirable prey. The Yautja warrior carefully memorized their heat signatures.

…..

A few days later, Guan-Thwei began his hunt. He was following the gang of oomans, carefully stalking them along ledges and rooftops. He jumped off a window sill and grabbed a convenient flag pole. The warrior swung around it once and let go, landing in an alley. A garbage can fell over with a clang as Guan-Thwei recovered his balance.

"Pauk-de." He swore as it rolled, noisily spilling it's contents. The oomans glanced at each other and exchanged words. They headed over. Guan-Thwei grinned and extended his out of there! We don't like strangers around here!" shouted one. His friend, a lean, hawk-nosed man called out as well,

"Hey, come on mother-fucker, let's see you!" Guan-Thwei's grin widened. He knew those words; they were fighting words! He understood a great deal of English and spoke it as well, except, a lot of it was understandably, curses. He laughed softly at their bravado. Hook-nose took that as an insult and stomped forwards, drawing a small knife.

"You have until three to get your ass out here, or it's mine! One…Two…Thr-YEEEEEE!" Guan-Thwei grabbed Hook-nose by the shirt and pulled him into the shadows, running him through in the process. The other two became alarmed and headed into the alley. They also had small knives, which they waved inexpertly. The shorter, bearded male nearly slipped on a dark stain. Beard reached down, stuck his fingers in it and sniffed.

"Oh, shit! This is blood! Let's get out of here and get more people!" His companion answered,

"No! He could be bleeding to death in there! We gotta-" Beard peered at his friend; he had gone strangely silent and a dark stain was growing on his belly. He gurgled and blood bubbled out his mouth. Beard gasped and backpedaled as his friend was lifted two feet off the ground and Something materialized behind in a haze of electricity. He took one look at the thing and ran, screaming bloody murder.

…..

The Yautja warrior snorted in disgust. They were not the challenge that he had hoped for. The gang members were really just overgrown children, bullies. They put on a brave show and shoved around other oomans, but they were untrained in the fighting arts. He ripped the spine and head out of Hook-nose's body with satisfaction. Perhaps this was not a total loss. Hanging their skinned bodies from a light post would certainly attract worthier prey and Beard's terrified tales would bring more gang members. Guan-Thwei smiled as he remembered Beard's expression and how the man had wet himself. He finished the grisly job and stalked away to his lair on top of a condemned apartment building.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanx for all the reviews! If I get lots of reviews, next time I'll put two chapters up! Originally, Adams was going to have a much larger role in the story, but I changed my mind. No flames please. Enjoy!!! _

_Whoops, I almost forgot!: I don't own Predators or Keyes. I do own Guan-Thwei's personality and the human character's personalities._

_Mesh'in'ga: The battle lust or dreamtime._

_Ki'cti-pa: Wrist blades._

_Pauk-de: Fucker or fucking._

_Tarei'hasan: Unworthy opponent, derogatory term._

Chapter 2

The city was in an uproar. During the past week, over a dozen bodies had been discovered. They were always skinned and suspended from doorways, light posts, power poles, trees and flag poles. Sometimes they were missing their heads and spines. They were all males and were identified as belonging to a gang 90 of the time. Open gang wars occurred in the streets as biker gangs and drug gangs blamed each other for the deaths. The cops were strained and were beginning to wind strung up and skinned. This was not going unnoticed by the government though...

.....

"Got its patterns down yet, Zoblensky?" inquired special agent Charles Adams to another member of the elite team.

"Not quite yet, this one is more erratic than the other Predators. It doesn't leave any of the bad areas though and seems to like watching the gang wars. See, it watched the one between the Lizards and Hell's Angels for over an hour." He pointed at a TV screen where a shadowy figure crouched on a roof top, leaning over eagerly at the carnage below.

"Next major eruption and we advance. No N2 guns this time. We don't want another bloodbath like Keyes's team. We move in with trancs and track him to his lair. That way there's no muss, no fuss and we get all his equipment too. Zoblensky, when the next gang war begins, tell me immediately."

"Yessir." Zoblensky answered.

.....

A couple of days later, Adams got his wish. A drug gang and the Lizards were going at it again. The Lizards were losing badly and were ready to escape into a random, rundown building to regroup and wait. Guan-Thwei was way ahead of them and was waiting in a central room. They would have to come in there as it was the most secure and had only two entrances: the front door or the sky-light. He chuckled and extended his ki'its-pa. The Yautja heard voices and footsteps outside. He tensed as the door burst open, ready to kill, deep in the mesh'in'ga, the battle lust. The doorway was completely empty. He blinked in confusion and looked around again, lowering his spear slowly. Suddenly, a chair grated a few inches over. Guan-Thwei clicked his mandibles nervously; there were oomans in the room and he couldn't see them! He himself had chosen to fight uncloaked and visible, but they hid themselves dishonorably! The warrior crouched, turning slowly and flipping through his vision modes. Without warning, he pulled out a shuriken and flung it blindly! It connected. The ooman screamed as blood sprayed everywhere, marking at least five others.

"FUCK!" screamed one "Fire! Fire now!" Guan-Thwei caught the shuriken as guns exploded around him. He roared as many small points of pain collected around his stomach and arms. He didn't know whether to stay and fight or escape and hunt them down later. Another few points bloomed on his stomach and he shoes to flee. He leapt up and grabbed the rim of the window and hoisted himself up. He started running, leaping the gaps and using his spear to hurdle the wider alleys. He collapsed sometime later on an old fire escape, his chest heaving. The Yautja pulled out one of the small things they shot at him and squinted at it. It was a syringe and it was empty. His hands shook as he ripped out more and more. The wounds were tingling. Guan-Thwei threw back his head and howled his rage at the sky, hurling the darts away. The young warrior whirled and punched the brick wall behind him, staring as the ancient bricks crumbled under his knuckles. He screamed,

"PAUK-DE TAREI'HASAN!!!" Guan-Thwei would have continued to vent, but his health was far more important. There wasn't much he could do for the punctures; they would close on their own, but he had to treat whatever they put in him. He reached around and removed his medi-kit. He took out a needle and filled it with a powerful antibiotic. He held it up, tapped it and squirted a small amount out. This was not like the thin needles they had shot him with; this was a thick, vicious thing! The warrior jabbed it into his stomach and roared in pain. Finished his treatment, Guan-Thwei gathered up his medi-kit and stood. He swayed and spots danced before his eyes; he had better get back fast.

By the time the warrior got back to his base, he was leaning on his spear and could barely remain standing. Fever raged through him. Even though it was much cooler than the Homeworld, Guan-Thwei found it unbearably hot. He stripped off all his gear except for his loin cloth, mask, wrist computer and ki'cti-pa. He still sweated and the world spun, marked with black spots. Just when he thought that it couldn't get worse, it did. Violent cramps gripped his stomach; he doubled over, gasping at their ferocity. The pain nauseated him and he scrambled to remove mask. Guan-Thwei pulled out the air-mask from his medi-kit, so he could breathe without destroying the delicate equipment in the mask. The fever rose steadily and he began to hallucinate. He had no painkillers so he had to tolerate the pain as well as he could.

.....

Adams sat down beside Zoblensky. The smaller man seemed nervous and flinched away.

"What's the matter? Speak up, man!"

"Sir, we found the tracking dart, but it was not near the creature's lair. Apparently it removed all the darts before returning."

"Oh." A muscle jumped in Adam's cheek, but his voice was calm.

"Well, we hit that motherfucker with enough trancs to take down a charging buffalo, so we'll just pay attention to the news and police reports. Someone will find it and we'll get it that way. Start a systematic search of all buildings in the area. Scan the atmosphere with SETI to see if it leaves or another ship enters. Don't worry, something will turn up, I can feel it."

Several hours later, they still had not found anything. Adams was purple with rage when the search was called off. He coped with the loss much better than Keyes would have. He had been promoted to this position because of his more tolerant personality. He would have to wait until the Predators returned.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanx for the reviews! If I get lots from this chapter, next time I'll put two up!_

_Cetanu-God of death._

Chapter 3

The Yautja lay on the rooftop for two days. By the end of those two days, he was in serious danger of dehydrating. The fever and vomiting had slowly leached the moisture from his body. It wasn't helped by the low humidity either. Guan-Thwei plummeted into delirium. He somehow climbed off the building, only falling near the end and wandered for an unknown length of time. If he had chosen any other building as his temporary lair, he would have been discovered by then. Luckily the only people who saw him were a couple of drunken bums. No one would believe them even if they had reported it. Sometime after dawn, his meager resources of energy used up, the sickened Yautja collapsed in a stinking alley.

.....

Matthew Booker pushed a clump of brown hair back as he surveyed his sister, Celia as she discussed the latest comic books.

"Naw, Spiderman could soooo kick Batman's ass."

"Shutup, Lee!" replied Matt, "Batman has better gear and weapons! He would win!"

"No he wouldn't," retorted Lee, "Ya know why?"

"No, tell me."

"I'll tell you..." Matt grinned at his sister as she proceeded to tell Matt of all Spiderman's winning attributes. She had shoulder length sun-streaked brown hair, like his but lighter. She was about a hand's width shorter than him and less skinny. Celia shoved the rolled-up bag of comic books into the pocket of her green hoody as she neared the end of her speech. He loved her; she was his only family, because their alcoholic, dead-beat dad didn't count.

"...And that is why Spiderman can beat Bat- Whoa." Lee's hazel eyes opened wide as she saw what was lying in the dirt between a dumpster and an apartment building wall.

"Holy shit." murmured Matt. "What is that thing?!?" They advanced slowly on the beast. It was a pale yellow with dark, nearly black, green mottling. The thing was roped with muscle and must have been at least seven feet tall if it was standing.

"What's that weird smell?" said Lee as she covered her nose. A strong musk was emanating from whatever that thing was. Suddenly it raised its head. The two teenagers jumped as they saw its face. Four large mandibles surrounded a small mouth and heavy, spiky brow ridges shadowed green eyes. It extended a taloned hand towards the two frightened humans.

"He-help...me." it choked out in a weak and raspy voice before its eyes rolled up into its head and it passed out again. They tiptoed closer to the thing; its skin and long dreadlocks were slick with sweat.

"Omigod omigod omigod OMIGOD! Let's get out of here!" whimpered Celia.

"No!" Matt interrupted, "We can't. Look at it; it can barely breathe. It's sick, we have to help it."

"Are ya nuts? We should...um." Celia's voice faltered under her brother's withering gaze.

"It asked for our help. Therefore it is intelligent. Therefore we must help it. What if the government gets their hands on it, they'll do horrible experiments to it. You've seen all the movies; whenever the government captures an alien, then they do things to it and the other aliens get vengeful and attack! You will help me get it home." Lee moaned and started edging towards it. They both grabbed an arm and tried to lift it.

"What if...what if Dad comes home?" Celia asked between gasps.

"He won't. H...He's, urgh, getting plastered at his girlfriend's house." After managing to stand semi-upright, the alien woke up and helped-sort of, they still had to support most of its body weight. They dragged it the tree and a half blocks home, staggering as fast as they could across the roads and staying in the alleys.

Matt fumbled in his pocket and extracted a key. The alien was still semi-conscious and gripped the railing but wove constantly. Lee made sure it didn't fall over. Matt kicked the door open and returned to carrying the alien.

"It can go in my room. I'll sleep on the floor in your room." The siblings led it to Matt's bed and it collapsed onto the bed. It creaked ominously, but held. They wiped their faces.

"Gross! I smell like it! I'm gonna take a shower." The alien rolled over and retched onto the floor. "Not my problem now, Matt. It's all yours." Celia paced out and disappeared into her room with a slam.

"Ick." After a quick search, Matt found some old towels and wiped up the vomit. He threw them in the laundry pile and fetched a bucket. Then he hurriedly scribbled a note and left.

.....

Lee threw down the note in disgust.

"Figures. Doesn't even tell me he's going out and leaves me with a seven-foot diseased alien." She stifled a hysterical giggle. A retching and coughing sound came from Matt's room. "Oh no! Why me!?!" she wailed even as her feet propelled her to the room. On a second thought, Li filled a bowl with water, figuring that it couldn't drink from a cup with its mandibles. She eased open the door. The alien was propped up on its elbow; one hand was raised up to its face, clutching an air mask. A hose led from it to a container on its belt. The other hand was clenched in a fist. Two foot blades extended from something on the forearm. Beady green eyes glared over the mask. "It's OK. I won't hurt you." She spoke slowly, like she would with a scared animal. "I have water for you, see?" It blinked and the blades retracted. The alien fell back, panting. Lee offered the bowl to it tentatively. It took it and dropped the air mask. Lee flinched when she saw the mutated insect mouth again. It balanced the bowl on its lower mandibles, hooked the upper ones over the edge and sucked back the water gratefully. The creature handed the empty bowl back to her. "Do you- Do you want more?" It nodded. She refilled the bowl several more times for the alien before it lay back.

"Thank you." rasped the alien.

.....

A short while later, Matt came home, laden with groceries.

"Omigod! Oh shit! Guess what, Matt? After you left, the alien threw up again and then I went in and it was sitting up, with the mask on and it had these huge, these really huge blades that came from its wrist and it looked at me and I looked at it and then I said I wasn't going to hurt it and then I gave it water and then, and then it said thank you!" she gasped for air after the huge, run-on sentence.

"See? I told you that it wouldn't hurt us!"

"I don't think it could right now. It looked really weak still. Matt, why did you go to the store and buy so much stuff? We can't really afford it." Matt looked a little uncomfortable.

"I went to get real food. Not hotdogs and cold cuts and frozen veggies or other crap like that. I couldn't see it eating that kind of stuff, and I thought that it shouldn't have all the processed stuff."

"Oh" Lee peered into the bag. "Since it won't be eating tonight, why don't we have a feast?" Matt grinned,

"Sure! Go dig out couple steaks. Pick out some other stuff too, when I get back from work I'll cook em up."

That night, Matt and Lee, sleeping off a large dinner had a rude awakening. A roar and some shouted words in a strange, growling, clicking tongue echoed through the night.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!" yelped Matt. Lee shrieked and rolled off the bed onto Matt. He grunted as she squished him.

"What the hell was that!?!" Matt kicked off his blankets and ran out of the room. He opened the door to where the alien was and groped blindly for the light. The alien was leaning on the wall, two blades extended from his wrist. Matt felt Lee come u behind him. The alien and Matt glared at each other. The alien took the mask away from its face and drew in a raspy breath.

"OOMAN!" it shouted, "Where... Where I?" It shook its head, seemingly disgusted with its answer. "Where am I, ooman?" Celia whimpered and cowered.

"You're at my house, me and my sister found you unconscious in an alley. You're pretty sick." It wobbled and shut its eyes for a moment, then decided to sit.

"Who are you?" it inquired. "My-my name is Matthew Booker and this is my sister, Celia."

"M'aat-hew and Ce'lia Bu'kar." It rolled the names around in its strange mouth. "I am Guan-Thwei."

"Guan-Thwei." Matt repeated the equally foreign word. "What are you? Where did you come from?"

"I am a Yautja warrior. I come from...The Homeworld. That is the...translation of the name. I live on a clan ship most of the time though."

"I'm a human, this is Earth." Guan-Thwei nodded.

"I know. We call you oomans. You would not have a name for us. The oomans that do meet us call us Predators." He brought the air mask to his face. Matt shifted nervously, not knowing how to address a pressing question to a warrior. Guan-Thwei made a clicking noise and cocked his head to the side, raising a spiky brow ridge.

"Are you feeling better? How is your fever and stomach?" "Better. But I must rest. I was battling, Cetanu, the Black Warrior for a while." He rolled over and appeared to go to sleep instantly.

"Matt. I don't know about that alien." said Lee as they lay in the dark. Matt was dumbstruck. His normally fearless sister was afraid of the weak, sick, what was it called?-Yautja.

"Why?"

"It's a warrior and an alien. He has those weapons and the way he was acting, it was like he was doing us a favor by listening to us and we were below him. Did you see the scars on his back? He didn't get them by farming. He has scars everywhere; I think that Guan-Thwei is the one that's killing those people. What if he does that to us when he's better and doesn't need us anymore?" Matt scoffed,

"He's intelligent. He's probably some sort of bounty hunter and is going to catch whatever is mutilating those people. That's why he has all those scars. If he wanted to kill us, he would have already. He must be a good guy." Lee made a non-committal grunt. Matt was a little nervous himself.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanx for the reviews! I need more before I can put up 2 chapters though…_

_Awu'asa-Full armor and gear._

_Ki'cti-pa-Wrist blades._

_C'jit-Damn._

_S'yuit-de-Low and demeaning description of something, shit._

_Ooman-Human._

_Nihkou'te- Tooth or tusk._

Chapter 4

Matt watched with fascination as Guan-Thwei ate a piece of fruit. First he would spread his mandibles and take a bite with his smaller jaws, then he would push in any protruding bits with his mandibles, pausing between each bite to breathe from the air mask. The Yautja only ate certain fruits and beef, which was a strain on their small budget. He didn't mind though, an alien was living in his house! The warrior's health had much improved over the week or so he'd been there. His fever was gone and he could walk without too many dizzy spells. From what Guan-Thwei had told him, the warrior had an allergic reaction to something that he was shot with. The Yautja seemed to want revenge, but had not pursued that goal at all. When Matt had asked him about that, he had simply replied that there were far too many humans to bother trying to kill the one who had done this when he didn't know what he looked like, or even his smell. The Yautja finished his fruit and looked at Matt.

"M'aat-hew, I must go soon. I have to gather my trophies and awu'asa and weapons. Then I must leave."

"I could probly get everything if you told me where it was." Matt replied. Guan-Thwei laughed softly, a gentle clicking and growling noise,

"You could not carry it all!"

Matt frowned. "Why not? I'm strong."

"When I first begun training, I had difficulty with the awu'asa! You are just a skinny ooman! I have many trophies to carry as well!"

Matt retorted, "I could take Lee with me!" The Yautja regarded him for a moment, then spoke,

"I know that you know what my trophies are. You would fetch them for me?"

"Yeah. I'm not squeamish. I'd get em down before Lee saw them." The Yautja cocked his head to the side, listening intently. The front door banged open and there was the sound of something breaking. A slurred male voice bellowed incoherently.

"Shit! Dad's home!" Matt ran out and shut the door.

Guan-Thwei heard the male ooman yelling drunkenly and Matt and Lee shouting back. Suddenly, Lee cried out. Guan-Thwei stood up and extended his ki'cti-pa. No one should treat a female like that! They deserved respect! Technically, no Yautja female would allow a male to treat them even half as bad, as he would be very dead, but still! He was brought up to respect them, so honor demanded that he help her! Guan-Thwei grabbed the door knob and yanked the door open; he was a little too enthusiastic and pulled the hinges part way out. The male heard and began yelling at the two young siblings again.

"What the fuck do you have in here!?! This is my house and I don't want it trashed by some fucking animals or whatever you have in here!" The male wound up and punched Matt. The warrior saw Matt lying on the floor, holding his face and Celia crouched over him, face livid with rage. Her face had a bright spot on it that was a bruise. The ooman saw Guan-Thwei.

"You little bitch! What the fuck are you doing? Inviting other men into my fucking house! How dare you act like a whore in my own fucking house! Bitch!" He kicked her in the ribs. The man was so drunk, he didn't even see that Guan-Thwei wasn't human; the Yautja's face was mostly covered up by the air mask, but he still did not look human! He let the air mask fall and crouched, arching his back and flaring his mandibles, roaring his rage! Then he charged. The male stared for a moment, then screamed and tried to backpedal, tripping and staggering. Guan-Thwei grabbed the man's throat with his left hand and propelled him into the wall, lifting him high! He choked and gasped, eyeing the ki'cti-pa held near his face. Guan-Thwei looked at Matt and Lee.

"Do you want me to kill him?"

Celia snarled, "No. But throw him out, scare him real good and make him hurt!" The ki'cti-pa retracted and the Yautja marched to the door, letting the ooman dangle and bang into things. Their father was choking, but Guan-Thwei didn't give a damn. He threw the male out the open front door and a good ten feet further.

He roared at the man, "Never return, s'yuit-de! You ever touch M'aat-hew and Ce'lia and I kill you, c'jit ooman!" Retreating back inside, Guan-Thwei collapsed on the couch, breathing hard.

…..

After regaining his breath, he got up and opened the medi kit clipped to his belt. Matt was sitting on the floor, holding his nose.

"Let me see." Commanded the Yautja. With his huge, claw-tipped hands, he gently felt Matt's gushing nose. "It is broken. I have to reset it. This will hurt." Guan-Thwei shifted it over with an audible crunch. Matt screamed. Lee raised arched brows

"You sure don't kid about that sort of thing!" Guan-Thwei glanced at her as he examined Matt's face, answering,

"Why bother lying? Pain happens. It will not make it less by lying." He finished mopping up the blood and swabbed on a liquid.

"This will keep it from swelling anymore and keep the small splits from going bad." Matt mumbled and leaned over the floor again. Guan-Thwei turned his attentions to Celia. He dabbed more of the liquid onto her growing black eye. "Let me see your ribs." Celia protested, but lifted up the side of her shirt, blushing. Another bruise was growing there. Celia twitched as he poked at her ribs with his warm hands. "They are not broken, but I will still put this on them." He finished treating them and put the parts of the medi kit away. Lee peered into it

"Whoa! You could almost perform surgery with this! Some of those tools look pretty nasty; don't you have anything for the pain?"

"These kits have saved every Yautja's life more than once. I can remove bullets with this, sew up wounds and seal lost limbs. A warrior must learn to tolerate pain." Lee winced, then looked down and muttered,

"Thank you for helping us. I'm sorry I didn't trust you before." Guan-Thwei's eyes opened wide, he didn't expect an apology at all!

"I understood that you were afraid of me. You thought I was going to make you into a trophy. You saved my life and honor demands that I not kill my rescuers while still in their debt. I do not kill young oomans or females at all. I do kill oomans though and I did kill those oomans around the city."

"Oh." Lee looked at Matt as if to say, I told you so. Matt sat up and said thickly,

"We can't stay here now. He's more violent and won't help with the rent anymore. I can't support us by myself anymore. We should go into foster care like we've talked about before. Before Dad gets the guts to come back here with his buddies. I dunno what he'll do now…"

Lee chewed a lip. "I know. You can't keep scaring him off, can you, Guan-Thwei?" He shook his head. Then Guan-Thwei got up and left the humans to discuss their problems.

…..

Matt woke early the next morning. The sun had barely risen, but his face demanded that he get up and stop ignoring it.

"Ohhh god! My faaace." He moaned. Heading into the bathroom, he checked his face. It was swollen and bruised, but not as bad as he thought it would be. After he finished in the bathroom, he exited and almost bumped into Guan-Thwei. The Yautja warrior was in full armor and had at least half a dozen human skulls and spines hung on his belt and a couple more attached to the armor on his back.

"When did you go?" demanded Matt.

"Last night after you were asleep. I waited until dark, do not worry. I have come to say good bye. I must leave."

"Please stay longer! You have to! What if Dad comes back? If he comes back anytime soon, it'll be pissed and with several drunken buddies!"

Guan-Thwei sighed. "I cannot help. My debt has been repayed. I owe nothing to you. I would stay longer if I could." Matt looked sullenly at the floor.

"By the way," he said, looking back up again, "how did you get in without the neighbors seeing you? They're early risers." Matt couldn't see Guan-Thwei's face, but knew he had to be grinning.

"Like this…" Guan-Thwei touched his wrist computer and a haze of electricity danced across his body. As Matt watched, the Yautja vanished. Only a slight shimmering betrayed his presence. He re-appeared again in another burst of electricity. "Is Ce'lia awake? I must bid her goodbye." Celia walked out, rubbing her eyes.

"Speak of the devil." muttered Matt.

"I am going, Ce'lia." Lee tried not to stare at the trophies as she answered.

"Why? Can we at least see you off?"

"Yes, I have my ship only a few miles from here. You must hurry though. I will not wait." They scrambled to get dressed and were out the door with Guan-Thwei.

…..

"It's pretty weird to be talking to you and not being able to see you, ya know?" said Lee.

"Would you rather have me walk uncloaked?" asked Guan-Thwei mildly. She shook her head. Soon they stopped in a clearing in a forest dotting the countryside surrounding the city. The Yautja uncloaked himself and pressed a button on his wrist. A whole wall suddenly appeared not ten feet from them. A door in the ship opened, revealing an orange light bathed corridor. The warrior turned to Matt and Lee and reached out, gripping their shoulders and shaking gently.

"Good bye, Ce'lia and M'aat-hew Bu'kar. Never reveal this to other oomans. There are some who would kill you for what you know. Move away from the ship or the engines will kill you." He turned and started clearing away debris from around the ship. Then he stepped into the ship and readied for take off.

…..

Strapped firmly into his seat, Guan-Thwei piloted the ship through the atmosphere. He pondered what happened on Earth. He wondered if he should have left Ce'lia and M'aat-hew on Earth, or even alive. Many other Yautja, Elders included, would not have let them stay. They would have taken them with them to serve as eta or experiments or for the arenas. Some would have killed Matt, since he was considered an adult. He was not in their debt anymore, so he was not obligated to treat them any different from other oomans. He didn't think that was right though. They didn't reveal him or betray his trust. He liked them; they were alright for prey. Guan-Thwei decided to tell no one, except perhaps for Nihkou'te, his best friend. They told each other almost everything. Guan-Thwei set the autopilot and got up, ready to eat a good meal and head to the sleeping pods.

_Awww, Guan-Thwei is so nice!! Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Woot! I just finished the rough copy of this story! 18 chapters and 85 pages! Now for the arduous task of typing it! (unenthusiastically) Yay. I'm starting to write a spin off of this one now, so wait a while and I will start posting it. Thanx for all the reviews! Please give me more! I apologize for the shortness. Next chapter is longer._

_C'ntlip- A strong alcoholic beverage._

_Ki'cti-pa- Wrist blades._

_Ki'cte- Enough._

_Naxa- A type of fruit._

_Kainde amedha- Hard Meat, Xenomorphs._

_Pauk- Fuck._

Chapter 5

Guan-Thwei sat down on a big leather chair in the small kitchenette. He had a flask of c'ntlip and a slab of meat impaled on one of his knives. It felt good to be in a familiar place, eating familiar food. He put down the flask and lifted the meat up to his mouth. Then he leaned back, chewing reflectively. Suddenly there was a bang. Guan-Thwei tensed and rose slowly. He dropped the meat and extended his ki'cti-pa. He stalked to the door, barely making a sound. He tip-toed down the hall and straightened by the open armory door, waiting. With a roar he jumped around the corner, drawing back his right fist! The entity in the armory screamed and threw itself backwards. The Yautja stopped his blades in the nick of time; the razor tips a mere hair's breadth from the intruder's face. Guan-Thwei retracted the ki'cti-pa and leaned against the wall, putting a hand up to rub the scar on his brow. Matt stood up and brushed himself off.

"Hi…" he said uncertainly. Guan-Thwei sent a silent prayer up to the gods.

…..

"M'aat-hew, why you have to follow me?!?" Matt drew himself up to his full height, 6'2".

"I wanna be a warrior like you." Guan-Thwei growled and rubbed his head. "It's all right. Lee and I talked about it. She's going into foster care with a friend. We've been talking about her doing that for ages. Besides, no one would want a 16-year old kid moving in with them."

"You know nothing about Yautja! You cannot be a warrior! Oomans are seen as prey, you have not proven yourself to be a warrior! If you are not sent to the arenas, M'aat-hew, you will be an eta! A slave! If the Council finds out about this, I will either have all my status and trophies stripped from me and be reduced to an eta or I will be killed! PAUK!!!" Matt looked shocked,

"But w-"

"Ki'cte!" Guan-Thwei shouted, "Do you know any Yautian? Do you know about our society? Can you use a weapon? Do you know anything besides the small amount I have told you? NO!!! Because the ship is too far for me to turn back, we will still continue on. You will not speak of Ce'lia, you will not reveal what happened, you will not speak to any Yautja unless I tell you to and you will do as you are told! If you listen to me, my honor and your life will be secure! Leave me! Go wait in the, in the, the eating area until I think of a passable lie! I HATE lying to the Elders!" Matt scurried away, much cowed by the Yautja's rage.

…..

Guan-Thwei viciously punched and kicked a bag hanging from the ceiling, swearing an artful string of the most venomous curses in Yautian and English. He vented for over an hour, running out of swears long before he was finished. Finally he returned to the kitchenette. Matt looked on him in terror.

"M'aat-hew, I will not yell anymore. I feel better now, just don't say anything or I will lose it again. You will be my personal eta. I will be able to look after you then. When I am away on a hunt, you will stay with Nihkou'te. He will understand. I will make sure that you do not do too much work away from out chambers, at least until you can speak properly. If you behave I will begin teaching you to fight. Being an eta is very hard work; expect to work almost all day. If you want any food, eat now before entering a sleep pod." Matt tentatively opened the Yautja equivalent of a fridge and peered in. He held up an odd fruit.

"What's this?"

"Naxa. You will probably like it. Do not eat the kainde amedha flesh. You would not like it and it will make you sick." Guan-Thwei picked up his discarded knife and meat and began chewing on it again. Matt nibbled on the naxa. Guan-Thwei cocked his head.

"It's weird, but I like it. The meat you're eating kyi... Kain- what you said?" Guan-Thwei nodded.

"Hard Meat. It can only be eaten after it is bled and aged or it burns like acid." Guan-Thwei finished the greenish meat and left. After fiddling with the computer for a while, he set a spare pod for Matt. "M'aat-hew! Come!" Matt walked in a few minutes later, panting and flapping his shirt.

"Why is it so hot and humid? What's with the air?"

"This is how it is always on the Homeworld. There is more…more…" Guan-Thwei gestured hopelessly. "I do not know what oomans call it." He smirked slightly and added loftily, "This air is much better than your thin, dry air." Matt stuck his head into one of the open pods. "Get in. You are going to sleep for awhile." Matt climbed in and leaned against the padded back.

"So what do I do now?" The Yautja pressed a button and the lid closed on him. Then Guan-Thwei settled into his own pod and instantly dropped off into sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hiya! Thanx for all the reviews! Another short chapter, but the next is really long to make up for it. The cursed homework prevents me from uploading many chapters because I'm a slow typer, so no yelling at me!:) Don't worry, Celia will be appearing again much later in the story. I don't really know how a person would react in the Pred's atmosphere, so I'm making an educated guess. Nihkou'te looks like the Pred from Predator 2, which I don't own. Enjoy and review._

_C'jit-Damn_

_Ooman-Human_

_Awu'asa-Suit of armor_

Chapter 6

Guan-Thwei woke abruptly from his deep sleep. The door of the sleep pod hissed open and he exited, stretching. For about thirty seconds he couldn't remember why the other pod was on. Then it all rushed back and he muttered,

"C'jit ooman." Guan-Thwei sighed and headed to the armory to collect his awu'asa, weapons and trophies.

…..

He leaned against the door, waiting for Matt to wake up. As soon as the door opened, the ooman stumbled out. He staggered dizzily for a moment.

"I feel like I'm hyper ventilating all the time." he explained. "Where are we now? The Homeworld?" added Matt. Guan-Thwei shook his head and replied.

"No. We are nearing my clan ship. I live on it most of the time. Come. You can sit in… in the cockpit while I pilot my ship in."

Matt watched the Yautja carefully steer the ship into a massive hanger. The cockpit was much larger then one in an airplane and just as complicated. Small blinking lights decorated the panels in red, yellow and green constellations. On several screens spiky red letters scrolled. Once in a while, a harsh computerized voice sounded; Guan-Thwei didn't seem to like it and would growl things at it. Everything in the cockpit gave off a faint heat. Matt voiced this to Guan-Thwei.

"We see heat. In order for us to see anything, it must be warmer or cooler than everything around it or absorb or reflect heat differently."

"Oh." Matt thought about this. Suddenly, the Yautja seemed even more alien. The ship shuddered as it slid into place. Guan-Thwei tapped on a few keys and the barely audible hum of the ship ceased.

"M'aat-hew, do not speak to other Yautja unless I tell you to, do not leave my side and above all, never be disrespectful to Elders or females." cautioned Guan-Thwei. He stood up and stalked down the hallway, Matt followed, flapping his shirt against the oppressive heat. They walked through the main doors and waited a moment before another, even more massive set of doors slid open. Another short corridor and then they found themselves in a large hall.

"Guan-Thwei!" roared something. Matt whirled to see another Yautja striding towards them, one hand raised in greeting. Guan-Thwei turned and grinned.

"Nihkou'te!" he shouted back. They stopped in front of each other, grinning madly. They shook each other's shoulders and exchanged rapid, clicking words. Nihkou'te was a few inches taller then Guan-Thwei, bringing him to nearly eight feet. He was not a pale yellowish color, but a darker yellow. Instead of dark green mottling, he was marked with streaks and spots of various shades of red, reddish brown and burnt orange. Especially on his face. That was heavily marked, accenting the spikes and ridges on his face. Nihkou'te also had the same scar on his brow. For a moment there was a lull in the conversation and Nihkou'te looked at Matt. Then Guan-Thwei said something and the new Yautja's mandibles spread in a smile. He continued looking at Matt and listening to Guan-Thwei. Then he started laughing. The new Yautja turned to Matt and reached out, gripping his shoulder. Matt reached up hesitantly and grabbed Nihkou'te's shoulder. He was shaken until his teeth rattled.

"H…Hello, M'aat-hew! Weh'licom to Yautja life!" said Nihkou'te in broken, heavily accented English. He waved at Guan-Thwei and ambled off, still laughing to himself. Matt felt overwhelmed.

"Nihkou'te will be good to you. He is respectful to oomans. He thinks most of life is a joke." They continued along the confusing halls, other Yautja stopping to talk to Guan-Thwei or to greet him. Eventually, they reached Guan-Thwei's rooms. They were not particularly large compared to most rooms they had seen. They consisted of a bedroom, armory and all purpose room. The main room had one wall entirely dominated by a trophy case.

"You stay here while I get a mattress for you to sleep on." Matt nodded. Once Guan-Thwei was out of the room, Matt explored the rest of the chambers. The armory was not very different than the one on the ship, but larger. Guan-Thwei's bedroom had a huge mattress on a slightly raised dais and tapestries on three of the walls. They were in shifting colors and depicted odd and disturbing aliens, Yautja locked in fierce combat with each. One particular alien was on most. It was black and spiky, with a long oblong head. On a table in the room was a bladed disc, like a Frisbee. It was opened and wires were strewn everywhere. Matt shrugged and went back into the main room to look at the trophy case. He stopped abruptly, seeing the vicious skulls on it. They were they same as the ones on the tapestries. A huge, crested skull dominated the centre of the trophy case. It glared eyelessly at him over a mouthful of teeth. Several human skulls were on the wall as well, but he was mostly distracted from them because of the alien skulls.

…..

Matt did not have a watch, so he did not know how much time passed before Guan-Thwei returned with a mattress. Once in place, the Yautja motioned for Matt to follow him.


	7. Chapter 7

_Fast update! To answer some of your questions, Celia will not be back until much later in the story, back on Earth. I just put 'hitchhikers' in to mislead you. :) Evil me. Enjoy and review!_

_Ki'cti-pa-wristblades_

_Paya- A term of respect or conquering warrior_

_Thwei-Blood_

_Tjau'ke-Stone_

_Pauk-Fuck_

_Pauk-de-Fucker or fucking_

_C'jit-Damn_

_Ooman-Human_

_Nok-Thirteen inch unit of measurement_

_Naxa-A type of fruit_

Chapter 7

The ooman stood frozen in mute terror, gaping at a new Yautja. Guan-Thwei growled in exasperation and shrugged apologetically at the female who was currently glaring suspiciously at them.

"I am sorry, Paya M'yin-de. He has never really seen another Yautja besides me and Nihkou'te. Let me speak to him." Guan-Thwei dragged Matt out of the room and into the hall.

"M'AAT-HEW!" hissed Guan-Thwei "That is a highly respected female! Never treat any Elder like that if you want to live! You are now my eta and how you act reflects me! You dishonor me! Apologize to M'yin-de now! And call her Paya, that is a term of respect!" Matt stuttered an answer,

"H-holy shit! You didn't tell me how big the females were! She's like, nine feet tall!" Guan-Thwei growled,

"Pauk, M'aat-hew! Just do as I say!" Matt was propelled back into the room again. The female was leaned back in her chair, clawed feet on a table. Her dreadlocks were dark grey and very long. Her skin was golden brown, freckled with darker brown. She had many scars and a mechanical right hand.

"I'm s-sorry for my disrespect, Paya M'yin-de." M'yin-de grunted and stood up. Taking a length of knotted cord, she began taking measurements of Matt. She muttered something about "noks" to herself as she worked. Then M'yin-de disappeared into a back room. Several minutes later she reappeared with several pieces of leather.

"Strip." she commanded. Matt started to protest, but was silenced with twin glares from the two warriors. Turning crimson with embarrassment, he removed his clothes and put on the new ones provided. It was about as much as he wore swimming. There was a leather cup thing which was covered by a scaled loin cloth, a thick leather belt studded with metal and hung with a few pouches, and thin leather sandals. Lastly, he pulled on fingerless gloves. They were like Guan-Thwei's; and were only really an anchor for small metal studs on the knuckles. Matt felt very skinny, weak and pale compared to the heavily muscled, yellow-skinned Yautja.

"Thank you, Paya M'yin-de." he mumbled. The female raised a brow ridge and inclined her head slightly. Guan-Thwei talked with her for a while then they left.

…..

Guan-Thwei grinned to himself, seeing the young ooman rubbing at his arms self-consciously.

"Feeling cooler now?" he inquired.

"Yeah. Um…If M'yin-de is so respected, then how come she's making clothes?"

"M'yin-de does not just make clothes; she also makes fine suits of netting and armor. When warriors age or become too badly injured to hunt, they aid other warriors by making things they need, providing services or teaching them. If they have nothing to offer, then they become etas. They don't like doing that though because they will have nothing. Some pilot ships or become Arbitrators. Arbitrators hunt down Badbloods and make sure that Yautja listen to the honor code."

"So they're kind of like your version of cops, right?"

"Yes." They entered another room. This one had weapons hanging on the walls, leaning in corners and lying on tables. A rack was covered in helmet designs. One table was entirely covered in weapons parts. A male Yautja was growling and muttering to himself while fiddling with some small tools and wires. "Thwei-Tjau'ke…" The Yautja looked up and again the two Yautja chattered away in Yautian. Thwei-Tjau'ke gripped a spear and leaned on it while getting up. Matt's stomach clenched; the young Yautja was missing a leg and had a mass of scar tissue covering the left side of his torso. Despite the horrible old wounds, he moved easily on his prosthetic limb. Thwei-Tjau'ke grabbed some spare parts off the table and held them up to Matt's right forearm, discarding them until he came to a smaller one. The crippled Yautja nodded to himself and clicked his mandibles. He wandered back to his table and started working on the new piece. They left then.

…..

"What happened to him?" questioned the ooman. Guan-Thwei sighed mentally.

"Thwei-Tjau'ke was wounded on an early kainde amedha hunt. He was pinned under a dying kainde amedha and the blood destroyed most of his leg. He is young and did not have much status, and so would have become an eta if he was not so good with machines. He has improved many parts of our helmets. I am getting him to make you ki'cti-pa."

"What?"

"These." he replied smoothly. He shot out the blades on his wrist.

"Wow! Are you teaching me to become a warrior?" He almost moaned. The c'jit ooman asked so many pauk-de questions!

"Maybe. At first I will teach you unarmed combat. When you can speak and read Yautian, I will think about it. If the Elders object, I will not. Understand?"

"I understand." The two rounded another corner and he grinned as Matt wrinkled his nose at the smell of the kitchens. Guan-Thwei selected several naxa and some other fruit, handing them to Matt. He pondered over the meat; the hard part was finding some that wouldn't make Matt sick. Guan-Thwei finally chose some and then indicated for Matt to head for his chambers.

Matt wrinkled his nose and gingerly picked up a slab of faintly blue tinged meat. He felt the warrior's eyes on him, impatiently waiting; so in order not to look any weaker than he already did, he bit into it. Its texture was similar to beef, but it didn't taste like anything like it. The meat tasted slightly like pork and something else. Matt decided that it was not as bad as he thought and continued to eat. Guan-Thwei happily ate it, so it could not be poisonous, could it? After all, Yautja ate meat from animals that had acid for blood… But Guan-Thwei would not hurt him, he trusted him.

…..

A short while later, when they had finished, Guan-Thwei began collecting some of his weapons.

"Where are you going?" asked Matt.

"To train." replied the Yautja warrior, clicking his mandibles in exasperation.

"But it's getting late!"

"No. Yautian days are longer than ooman days. Take a nap while I'm out. You start learning Yautian when I get back." The warrior hurried out before Matt could ask any more questions.


	8. Chapter 8

_I know, I know, a short chapter. But the next one is longer and exciting. Yes, Guan-Thwei does fight Dachande. Thanx for all the reviews and give me more!_

_Dachande-Different knife or broken tusk._

_Pauk-de-Fucker or fucking._

_Ell-osde'pauk-Fuck you!_

_Jehdin/Jehdin-Hand to hand combat. _

Chapter 8

Several weeks had passed. Matt now knew a small amount of Yautian and was just learning to read it. He was putting on muscle from the chores, hand to hand combat lessons and the Yautja's high protein diet. Currently, he was going to get fresh bedding for both him and Guan-Thwei. Luckily for him, most of the other Yautja on the ship did not get him to do anything for them, since they viewed him as a weak, stupid ooman, worth even less than a conventional eta. That didn't bother him, since he probably wouldn't be able to understand what they asked of him. Another Yautja was walking down the hall; this was not unusual; they always ignored him. Then the warrior appeared to notice Matt and headed over. He stopped and folded his arms over his chest, glaring imperiously down at Matt. The new warrior was not taller than Guan-Thwei, but had broader shoulders and was much more heavily muscled. He had a scar starting above one brow, passing over an eyelid, which drooped slightly, and ending on his chin. A lower tusk was broken.

"Ooman." he said before launching into rapid Yautian. Matt struggled to follow it, but could not. The Yautja stopped and waited expectantly. When Matt didn't respond, he repeated himself, anger lacing his voice.

"Um, could you slow down? I can't understand you when you talk so fast." said Matt nervously in English. The Yautja's body was shining with sweat. That probably meant that he had been training and was tired and would therefore have a short temper. Matt backed away a step and sniffed the air. He had learned that the musk that Yautja's gave off changed slightly when they were angry. This one smelled angry. It shouted at Matt again, and then growled in frustration. He drew back his arm. Before Matt knew what was happening, the scarred warrior backhanded him. He flew through the air, landing heavily. He had never been the receiving end of a Yautja's backhand before. He didn't want to again. Curiously, his face didn't hurt; it just felt thick and numb. Matt passed out.

Guan-Thwei found Matt crumpled on the ground, blood pooling around his head and Dachande standing over him. Panic gripped him, panic which he would later dislike because he didn't like to think that he was fond of the annoying ooman.

He ran to the older Yautja, roaring "STOP!" since Dachande looked like he wanted to hit Matt again. "What are you doing?!?"

"This eta was being deliberately disrespectful to me. I asked him to prepare the baths for me, yet he didn't, so I gave him the punishment he deserves. He needs a far worse beating than this. You are too easy on him."

"That is my personal eta! He does not speak our language! He didn't know what you were saying!" A crowd of other Yautja was beginning to draw around the two enraged warriors. Matt groaned and twitched behind him.

"He is a slave! I can do what I want with him!"

"M'aat-hew is my eta and you will not touch him, pauk-de!" The crowd began muttering and clicking.

Dachande drew himself up and yelled, "Ooman lover! You are a disgrace to your family and race!"

"Ell-osde'pauk!" Dachande and Guan-Thwei glared murderously at each other for a while. Then Dachande reached out and pushed Guan-Thwei. The other Yautja gasped and the muttering began anew. Excitement filled the crowd. Then the two warriors turned and marched away.

Matt saw Guan-Thwei through a red fog.

"Get up." he commanded. Matt moaned and struggled to sort out his limbs. "Pauk-de Dachande…" he muttered and picked up Matt, carrying him to his chambers. He set Matt down in a chair and brought out his medi kit. He opened it and started wiping away the blood. "Your nose is broken again." warned Guan-Thwei before he shifted it over. Matt cried out.

"You should learn to do this yourself. I will not keep doing it. Next time you practice."

"Why did that other guy push you?" asked Matt thickly. "He challenged me to Jehdin/Jehdin. He is opposing my right to have a personal eta and wants to prove that he has the right to do what he wants with etas. If he wins, you will not be staying here anymore." Guan-Thwei reached into his medi kit a pulled out his thinnest curved needle and thread. "The cut on your cheek needs stitches. Take this." He handed Matt a padded bar. Guan-Thwei inserted the needle into the flap of skin at the top edge of the gash. He ground his teeth and screamed, holding the bar in a death grip. By the time the stitches were done, tears were streaming down his face and his knuckles were white and aching. "You are lucky that this was not larger or I would have burned it shut. That is how I treat most of my gashes. I can tell you that doing it that way hurts much more that simple stitches." Guan-Thwei gathered up his medi kit and stalked into his chambers.


	9. Chapter 9

_Yay! Christmas break! I'll update more frequently now, because I'll have much free time. Thanx for the reviews!_

_Nihkou'te-Tooth or tusk._

_Kehrite-Battle or practice arena._

_Jehdin/Jehdin-Hand to hand combat._

_Ki'cti-pa-Wrist blades._

_Pauk-de-Fucker or fucking._

_S'yuit-de-Low and demeaning description of something, shit._

_Hulij-bpe-Crazy._

Chapter 9

Guan-Thwei stood silently at the edge of the kehrite, waiting for Dachande. He was only wearing his loincloth; even his ki'cti-pa had been removed. Dachande sauntered into view and gave Guan-Thwei an obscene gesture. He snorted and ignored the older Yautja. The Elder that was to watch and judge the match strode into the centre, his long scarlet cloak swirling behind him. He began announcing them to the crowd.

"The warrior, Dachande, has challenged the warrior, Guan-Thwei, to a Jehdin/Jehdin to challenge his right to a personal eta. Come forward, warriors." They started forward amid the hoots and hollers of the spectators. The Elder waited until they reached him before continuing his announcement. "Greet each other." They grasped each other's shoulders and shook, squeezing a little harder than they should have. "Fight well and honorably. May the gods grant victory to the warrior who is right and punish the warrior who is wrong." They waited until the Elder left before dropping into their fighting stances.

He crouched and spread his arms, growling and flaring his mandibles threateningly. Dachande was in almost the same stance and they circled each other warily, searching for weak spots. Guan-Thwei waited for Dachande to attack first. He had hunted with him before and knew Dachande was rather impatient. With a roar, Dachande leapt forward to grab Guan-Thwei, but, Guan-Thwei was no longer there. He kicked Dachande in the butt as he charged past, causing him to fall face first into the floor. He raised his arms high and bowed to the laughing crowd. Guan-Thwei saw Nihkou'te roaring with laughter and making rude gestures to Dachande. Dachande picked himself up and charged at Guan-Thwei again; he was not so careless as before and landed a glancing blow to the younger warrior's head. Guan-Thwei continued to avoid Dachande, hoping to make him angry enough to really get careless. He jumped back again, but Dachande secured a hold on his flying dreadlocks and dragged him back. He wrapped the fingers of his other hand in Guan-Thwei's dreadlocks and smashed his face into his knee. He roared and thrust a fist into the air. The younger warrior staggered off, spitting glowing green blood. Dachande followed, snarling,

"That was for making me look like a joke you pauk-de little s'yuit-de!"

"Ell-osde'pauk!" growled Guan-Thwei. He swung out and punched Dachande in the stomach, then crouched and spun while holding a leg out. Dachande fell heavily with a curse on his back. Instantly Guan-Thwei was on his chest, punching wildly. Eventually, Dachande pushed Guan-Thwei off, but not before his face was covered in small lacerations from the metal studs on Guan-Thwei's gloves. Dachande slammed his thick forehead into Guan-Thwei's, sending him reeling. The older warrior strode to the younger warrior's prostrate form and drew back a leg to kick. Guan-Thwei was suddenly moving again and caught the leg, twisting it violently while digging his claws deep. Dachande howled and fell. He grabbed at Guan-Thwei's shoulder, but Guan-Thwei caught his arm, spread his mandibles and bit. He stabbed the sharp tusks in as well. His small but sharp teeth easily pierced Dachande's flesh. The older warrior screamed and bashed Guan-Thwei on the head, trying to dislodge him. Guan-Thwei growled and hung on doggedly, sinking his teeth deeper, despite the blows that rained on him. Then Guan-Thwei let go and kicked Dachande in the face. He pulled his legs to his chest and kicked out, propelling himself up and kicked Dachande again and again. Dachande remembered the trick that Guan-Thwei had performed on him moments earlier. Guan-Thwei felt all the air leave his body as he was punched in the stomach, then the face. Guan-Thwei crawled away, gasping and spitting blood, along with a tooth. He stood up shakily, glaring at Dachande. They ran at each other and grappled, trying to knock the other over.

"Tired yet? Hmmm, s'yuit-de?" teased Dachande. Guan-Thwei retorted by spitting blood in his eye. Dachande pushed Guan-Thwei away with a cry of disgust, swiping at the bloody spittle. He glared up, murder in his eyes. He reached down and dislodged a small but effective knife that was hidden on his belt. A cry of shock went around the crowd. Dachande was violating the code of the Jehdin/Jehdin!

Guan-Thwei leapt back from a vicious swipe at his midsection.

"You are hulij-bpe!" The crowd was screaming in rage and the Elder was trying to convince Dachande to put it away. Guan-Thwei dodged another slash and grabbed Dachande's hand, pulling him close and then throwing him over his hip. The knife skittered away. Guan-Thwei sat on the older warrior's chest, holding his hands down with his knees. Guan-Thwei's own hands swiped across Dachande's face, once, twice, leaving deep gashes. Then he wrapped his hands around Dachande's throat and began squeezing the life from his body. The older warrior's eyes rolled up into his head and Guan-Thwei felt the Elder come up behind him.

"You can finish him if you want. You have the right to kill him." Guan-Thwei's hold slackened slightly, allowing Dachande to gasp out

"H'chak…" The younger warrior growled, and then released him. He stood up, wiping away blood from his many wounds.

"That pauk-de can kill himself. I'm not doing him any favors." Guan-Thwei strode out of the kehrite, head held high.

…..

Matt was sitting at the table in Guan-Thwei's chambers. He was making a deck of cards. He wanted to help pass the time and intended to teach Nihkou'te to play. Suddenly, the door opened and Guan-Thwei staggered in. He regained his balance as Matt rushed to help him. Green blood was oozing from dozens of small splits and gashes and he had dark bruises discoloring most of his body. Guan-Thwei growled irritably, but leaned on Matt anyway. He grabbed his medi kit and began to clean his wounds. Matt watched, handing the Yautja tools as he needed them. The Yautja sewed up his own wounds with barely a wince and a growl. Matt was impressed and ashamed at himself for whining so much. Once Guan-Thwei finished treating his wounds, he collapsed his chair.

"You are staying. I won against that dishonorable bastard."

"What happened?"

"He pulled out a knife and violated the rules. He is probably being questioned by the Elders now. They will give him the choice of living without honor or death. He can kill himself or have someone help him. Please leave me alone now. I am very tired and sore. When I wake up, I want a hot bath." Guan-Thwei shut his eyes and appeared to fall asleep instantly. Matt tip-toed back to his chair and continued work on his cards.


	10. Chapter 10

_Merry Christmas! And a happy New Yeaaarrr! Yay! Amid the flurry of shopping and people, I wasn't able to find time to update, so I finally found time tonight after most of the guests left. Hope you like this chapter, not much goes on and it's short, but the next chapter is more exciting and more than twice as long. Anyway, Enjoy! Please remember to give me lots of reviews!_

Chapter 10

Matt walked down the hall to Guan-Thwei's chambers, burdened by fresh bedding for the both of them. His nose had healed well, though it was slightly crooked now. The split on his cheek was now a slightly raised scar. He was fluent in Yautian now. The air and heat did not bother him so much anymore; only during periods of strenuous exercise did he have dizzy periods. When he walked in he saw Guan-Thwei, as well as Nihkou'te, an older female named Bakuub and Thwei-Tjau'ke. They were sitting or standing and looking at him expectantly.

"M'aat-hew, we need to speak to you. Put that down and sit." said Guan-Thwei sternly. Matt put down the sheets and sat. He wondered why they were there. Thwei-Tjau'ke held up the finished ki'cti-pa.

"Before you take this, listen to what we have to say." Guan-Thwei looked seriously at Matt.

"We have been speaking to each other for a long time. We are now giving you the choice to be accepted as a Youngblood or to remain an eta, although a privileged one." He paused a moment to let this sink in. "It will not be easy. You are smaller than the other Youngbloods. You have not trained as long as they have. But, you have determination. I believe that if you really want to become a warrior, you will. Since you, uh, 'came', I have been speaking to the Council, to the Elders on this ship and some of my fellow warriors, to try and convince them to allow you to join. It was not easy, but I have done it."

Matt opened his mouth to speak, but the crippled Yautja held up his hand and spoke himself. "Even if you survive training, there is a good chance that you will die during the Kainde Amedha Chiva. Or, you could die or worse, be crippled like me on any following hunt."

Nihkou'te spoke next. "Six of us began on our Kainde Amedha Chiva. Me, Guan-Thwei and Meh'ket survived. Guan-Thwei was nearly the first cull. If I had not killed the Hard Meat that jumped him, he would have been killed. We looked after each other; you will be lucky if you get one friend among the Youngbloods. This will be done on your own."

"You will be harassed by the other Youngbloods, if you live through the Chiva, your fellow warriors and even Elders will harass you. Some will ally themselves with you, some will be open-minded, but don't count on it. Are you willing?" said Bakuub. Matt thought for a while, but again he was cut off before he could speak.

"Being a warrior is not all death and unhappiness. There is the glory of the hunt, the status, the trophies, the thrill of danger and, if you survive and reach old age, you can pass on what you know to younger warriors and watch them succeed, survive." she continued, "I will help teach you; I teach most of the Youngbloods. Nihkou'te, Guan-Thwei and Thwei-Tjau'ke will help teach you."

Guan-Thwei straightened, "I am willing to go before the entire Council of Elders, in person, if it is necessary. M'aat-hew, if you accept, you will be the only ooman to ever become a true warrior among us. You would be famous, honored." Thwei-Tjau'ke held out the ki'cti-pa. Matt looked at the four assembled Yautja. If he accepted, he could be killed in training, or in any following hunts. But, he would be a warrior, he would have status, he would be famous! He could become the only human to be fully accepted into Yautja society. He could go to Earth and see Celia again. He could tell her what he had done. Matt stood tall and raised his head; he reached out and took the ki'cti-pa.

"I will do it." The Yautja clicked and nodded, some making the purring sound of happiness. Thwei-Tjau'ke fitted the weapon onto Matt's right forearm. He clenched his fist and slid the deadly blades in and out a few times as he had seen Guan-Thwei do. He smiled at Thwei-Tjau'ke. The cripple nodded slightly and stood with a grunt, leaning on his spear. Then everyone but Guan-Thwei filed out of the room. Guan-Thwei had a stern look in his eyes.

"Go to bed. Your duties as an eta have officially ended. Tomorrow we train." With an evil smile Guan-Thwei walked into his room.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thanx for all the reviews! See, I told you I'd update faster! I got the first season of Gargoyles for Christmas, so I might write some fanfics on that. Oh, guess what? Seven more chapters to go on this story! Please review!_

_Kehrite: Battle or practice arena_

_Bakuub: Straight spear _

_Guan-Thwei: Night-blood_

_Shuriken: Throwing star_

_Thwei-Tjau'ke: Blood-Stone_

_Nihkou'te: Tooth or tusk_

_Naginata: Highly prized weapon_

_Ki'its-pa: Retractable spear_

_Ki'cti-pa: Wristblades_

_Setg'in-kwei: Quick and tricky_

_H'chak: Mercy_

_H'sai-de: Curved sword_

_Mei'hswei: Friend or ally_

_Kainde Amedha Chiva: Hard Meat Trial, Blooding hunt_

_Ooman: Human_

_Tarei'hasan: Unworthy opponent_

_Ell-osde'pauk: Fuck you_

Chapter 11

"Watch it!" shouted Guan-Thwei as a shuriken whirred past his stomach.

"Sorry!" Matt yelled back. Nihkou'te laughed harshly from the side of the kehrite and Bakuub smiled despite the obvious danger. They were trying to teach Matt how to throw and catch shuriken. He was relatively good at throwing them and could hit whatever he was aiming at about half the time. Catching was another matter altogether. After Matt nearly removed a finger, they had dulled the razor sharp blades. When he still nicked and gashed himself, Guan-Thwei had Thwei-Tjau'ke make a special glove fitted with metal plates for Matt. He still rarely caught it, but didn't have to worry about missing fingers anymore, so he made more of an effort.

"Hey! M'aat-hew! Next time aim a little lower!" called Nihkou'te. Matt made a rude gesture and Nihkou'te returned it cheerfully. Matt glared as he sauntered over. Nihkou'te was casually throwing up a shuriken and catching it. He wasn't even looking directly at it! "My turn again. Let the master teach. You may learn something if you watch closely enough." Nihkou'te said to Guan-Thwei, trying to sound like an arrogant Elder.

"Yes, O Great Master." said Guan-Thwei sarcastically as he hurried off the kehrite. He covered his head with his hands and feigned fear as he left.

"Watch closely, M'aat-hew…" Nihkou'te pulled out three more throwing stars, popped open the blades and began juggling them. He threw them behind his back, under his leg and finished with a flourish, bowing and grinning.

Bakuub growled, "You are not here to teach him tricks Nihkou'te! Hard Meat will not stand around and applaud while you perform foolish tricks for them!"

Nihkou'te blinked and bent down to Matt's level, he whispered conspiratorially, "They may be foolish, but they impress the females. At least most females." Matt hid a smile behind his hand. "I'll show her cheap tricks…" hissed Nihkou'te. He began juggling them again and one by one, threw them at the targets. Each one connected and spun back to Nihkou'te, who caught them easily. He faced Bakuub, cocked his head to the side and raised a brow ridge. The older female remained mostly expressionless. Then he turned back to Matt. "M'aat-hew close your eyes. You cannot easily catch shuriken if you just watch. You have to listen as well." Matt shut his eyes, feeling a little foolish and hoping he wasn't about to fall for one of Nihkou'te's jokes. He felt a rush of air go by his head and heard the whir as the six-bladed shuriken sliced through the air. "Listen. When the part without blades faces you, it makes a different noise. Use that to time your catches." Matt strained his ears. He heard the slight _whap_ as Nihkou'te caught it again and heard him throw it again. A slightly different tone pulsed swiftly through the whir as it returned to Nihkou'te. "See? When you have your mask made for you, it can amplify the noise, but it's best to learn to catch it like this first. Use your ears." He tugged at one of Matt's. "They are large enough for you to hear everything!" Matt clapped his hands over his ears, wincing as the metal plated glove struck it.

"My hearing's not as good as yours! Leave my ears alone!"

Bakuub clicked her mandibles angrily. "Stop playing and get practicing!" she barked. Matt retrieved his dull shuriken and prepared himself to throw it again.

…..

They gave up for the day after many more misses. While the glove protected Matt, it was hazardous to anyone standing near because when he didn't grab it, the shuriken tended to ricochet.

"That is enough for today." said an exasperated Bakuub, "M'aat-hew, you must learn how to use the shuriken! There are times when your plasma caster or scatter gun or net gun or harpoon gun will break! In the Kainde Amedha Chiva, you are not allowed to use any projectile weapons except knives, Smart Discs, net guns and, yes, shuriken. You only get the plasma caster after you make at least one kill."

Matt frowned, "I don't like the shuriken. I'd rather use daggers, swords or ki'its-pa."

"I do not like shuriken either. I would rather use my naginata or ki'cti-pa. I had to work hard with shuriken too. Not all of us are prodigies with them." Bakuub shot a nasty glare at Nihkou'te, who was again tossing a shuriken absentmindedly.

"Who, me?" he said innocently.

"Nihkou'te is the best one to teach you. I have only met a few Elders that are better than him."

"You're doing wonders for my ego." cut in Nihkou'te.

"Get out your ki'its-pa. You can practice with it some more." Matt breathed a sigh of relief and folded up the hated throwing star. He walked over to where he had piled his weapons and retrieved the retractable spear. Pressing a button, it sprang out to over six feet long. He went back into the centre of the kehrite and faced Guan-Thwei, who was also gripping a spear. With a flourish, the Yautja spun his ki'its-pa and stabbed it towards Matt's flank. Matt blocked automatically and counter attacked. They continued their battle, gracefully attacking and defending.

Sometime into the practice, Matt was forced into defense; he was tired and Guan-Thwei was still fresh. The spear was knocked aside as he attempted a half-hearted attack. Guan-Thwei lunged into the opening. Matt scarcely had time to bring his own weapon up. Both shafts met in the middle with a clack. Guan-Thwei slowly bore down on Matt with his weight. Matt strained with his newly toughened muscles, but to no use. His feet slipped out from under him and he landed hard on his back. Mocking, raucous laughter echoed through the arena. He looked and saw three Youngbloods standing at the edge.

"Silly ooman! Go back to being an aseigan! You are not worthy to fight with us!" hooted the leader. Matt slowly picked himself up and stood tall, raising his head aggressively, as he had seen other Yautja do when confronted. The leader sneered "Setg'in-kwei, show him back to his place!" One of his companions started forward, opening his spear.

Guan-Thwei snarled "He is our student, not yours! Leave this kehrite now!"

"This kehrite is open for anyone to use. We don't want a primitive ooman fouling it up. They are only worthy to be hunted or enslaved!"

Nihkou'te hissed "Get out of here, Youngbloods! We are seasoned warriors and you are no match for us." he smiled, "If you leave now, I won't give you a free haircut." he added generously. Three shuriken had appeared in his hand. Guan-Thwei flared his mandibles and started to advance, but stopped, looking surprised. Matt had blocked him with his spear.

"They want to fight me, so I'll fight them." Guan-Thwei shrugged and let Matt to the eagerly waiting Setg'in-kwei.

…..

I must be insane, thought Matt. The young Yautja in front of him towered at least a foot higher. The young male was not heavily muscled but looked fast. He spun his ki'its-pa nervously. Suddenly, the Yautja attacked swiftly and viciously. Matt jumped back, hardly able to block the blows. He backed away and the two circled. He studied Setg'in-kwei. The young male tensed slightly and paused before he attacked. Matt was ready and he blocked more easily now. His spear slid under Setg'in-kwei's and the Youngblood barely avoided the blade. Matt attacked now, adrenalin coursing through his veins, removing past tiredness and aches. After another clash, Matt looked up and met Setg'in-kwei's yellow eyes. They were not filled with contempt now; they held respect. The two young warriors-to-be fought, dodging blows and giving them. There was no way the human could win this by brute strength; trickery was the key. Thwei-Tjau'ke had shown him ways of making the opponent's own strength betray them. The young Yautja was a clever opponent. He could read Matt's body language as well as Matt could read his, maybe even better since Yautja's used a great deal of body language. He glanced at his shoulder, Setg'in-kwei moved to block him there, but Matt's ki'its-pa was already moving down to his legs. The shaft caught him behind the knees, sending him unceremoniously to the floor. The Youngblood found himself staring up six feet of spear.

"H'chak, I yield to you." said Setg'in-kwei. Matt relaxed and suddenly the spear weighed three times as much. He staggered off, panting. Matt sat down to ward off his dizziness.

Guan-Thwei grinned, feeling very, very proud that M'aat-hew had beaten a Youngblood! M'aat-hew had learned in a few weeks what most Youngbloods learned over months, or even years! Setg'in-kwei picked himself up. The leader of the small clique stomped over and began yelling.

"You let an ooman beat you! A puny, stinking ooman! Tarei'hasan, you are not welcome with us anymore!" The two stalked off.

"Ell-osde'pauk, I do not need you as a mei'hswei!" shouted Setg'in-kwei. He walked over to Matt. "You fought well." The Youngblood smiled. "You've inspired me to train harder! How long have you used the ki'its-pa?"

"About two and a half, three months." He clicked his mandibles in astonishment.

"Are you good with anything else? Ki'cti-pa, h'sai-de, shuriken…?"

Matt grinned. "No, ki'its-pa is my best, though I'm doing better with ki'cti-pa and h'sai-de. Just never mention shuriken to me again and I'll be happy!"

"Well, I must go. We must meet again for practice. I have to work harder!" Setg'in-kwei ambled off.

"Wow." said Nihkou'te, "I thought he would hate you for beating him for sure! I would have been pretty sore myself!" Bakuub walked back into the kehrite from the entrance where she had been watching.

"That just means that Setg'in-kwei is more mature than you. You should take lessons from him." said Bakuub serenely.

"You have an ally now, M'aat-hew. Work hard enough and you may be on the same Chiva." said Guan-Thwei.


	12. Chapter 12

_Yay! Another update! Enjoy and review lots! Don't know if I remembered all the translations, I miss some sometimes, but they are usually on other chapters. I have a fictionpress account now! Same username and some stories I intend to publish someday, so get 'em free now!_

_Kehrite: Arena for battle or practice._

_C'jit: Damn._

_H'sai-de: Curved sword._

_Kainde Amedha Chive: Hard Meat Trial._

_Ki'cti-pa: Wristblades._

Chapter 12

Guan-Thwei watched Setg'in-kwei and Matt spar, examining them critically. He winced as Setg'in-kwei broke through Matt's defense and thumped him hard on the collarbone with the flat of his h'sai-de. The sword was dull and he wore padding, but a bruise would be left after that. Pain would teach to be more careful, though. The two Youngbloods laughed and readied themselves again. Guan-Thwei growled and stalked over.

"M'aat-hew, your stance is wrong again! Don't hold your sword so low, crouch more and hold your sword so it is tilted. That way you will be better able to block. Setg'in-kwei, stop holding back! If he is careless, don't be afraid to strike to blow! It is a bad habit to get into, the Kainde Amedha Chiva is drawing nearer and both of you must be in top condition if you are to survive." The older warrior began heading back to the edge of the kehrite. "If I catch either of you making those mistakes again, the backslider gets to fight me." This was a good punishment as both of them knew that he would not be careful if a body part presented itself in an opening. He threw himself down on a chair at the edge and listened to the rhythmic clash of swords.

Later the three headed down to Thwei-Tjau'ke and M'yin-de's rooms for armor fitting. Setg'in-kwei had most of his finished and just needed his mask and netting suit. Matt needed much more. He had been measured for the mask but the wiring had to be done. Thwei-Tjau'ke was waiting in the main room, holding Matt's helmet. He inclined his head slightly at them as they entered. Setg'in-kwei made a bee-line for the large rack that dominated one entire wall. Dozens of helmet designs hung on it. He began running his claws gently over them and taking down his favorites to examine more carefully. Matt picked up his own mask. It was not as large or pulled forward as far as a normal one. The design was quite simple, unlike Guan-Thwei's or most of the ones that Setg'in-kwei was looking at. They had suggested that a simple one would be best to prevent unnecessary attention from being drawn to him. Later, he could always decorate it.

"M'aat-hew, I have a problem. I will have to put most of your controls on your wrist gauntlet since you do not have mandibles." He clicked his for emphasis, and then picked up his helmet. "See? Inside are controls for vision modes, laser sights, recorder, sound amplifier, zoom and the trigger for the plasma caster. The vision most used to be on the wrist, but I redesigned them to fit in the mask." he said with a touch of pride. "Not all warriors have the vision modes in their mask, many of the older ones prefer it on the wrist." he added. Thwei-Tjau'ke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I can fit it in the wrist gauntlet, but yours will have to be larger. I might be able to put the trigger on your ki'cti-pa so you can fire it one handed and without looking…" His voice trailed off as he turned the mask over in his hands a few times. "The zoom, amplifier and sighter should be in the mask though."

"Why not put them on the side? I can just reach up to use them." stated Matt.

"You may need to use them while in battle and it is best to have free hands. You can use your lips to operate the controls." He dug through a pile of wires and drew out several. Using a tiny tool, he began to fish them into the mask. He muttered to himself, "C'jit. The self-destruct device will take up room…" Matt's eyes flew open.

"The WHAT?!?" he shouted "What self-destruct device?!? I didn't know about this!" Guan-Thwei looked surprised.

"All warriors carry one. If you are on a solitary hunt or separated from the rest and are mortally wounded or trapped with no honorable way out, then you are expected to destroy yourself and all your equipment. It's to prevent intelligent prey from discovering us. If your Chiva is doing badly and you will all die, then you blow yourselves and the Hard Meat up to prevent them from spreading. Any warrior that chooses to die that way rather than revealing us is brave and dies honorably."

"So I'm expected to blow myself up if the going gets tough?!? Just for honor?!?" Setg'in-kwei turned.

"Yes. It is better to die with honor than to live with none."

"What if I don't want to?" Thwei-Tjau'ke dropped a tool with a clink and they all turned to stare at him.

Quietly, Guan-Thwei said, "If you do that then you are a Badblood. You have no honor and will be hunted down by Arbitrators until they rip your head from your body. Or, you could be forced to perform suicide in front of hundreds of Yautja. If you can't even do that, then the Arbitrators will do it for you. No Yautja ever wants to end up as a Badblood. Even if the infraction is not intentional, you die. Is that what you want? Meh'ket did not mean to lose his honor, he just lost control and he died anyway. To die by your own hands is always honorable. If you ever become a Badblood, I will hunt you down myself." Matt was speechless, he worked his mouth a few times like a fish. "Go back to the chambers." Matt cringed out, followed by Setg'in-kwei.

"Wow. I didn't expect anything like that! Why did Guan-Thwei get so worked up about that?" Setg'in-kwei gave Matt a look of disapproval.

"He knew a warrior that became a Badblood. Most of us on this ship know about it. Meh'ket was in the same Chiva as Guan-Thwei and Nihkou'te. On their first ooman hunt, Guan-Thwei discovered Meh'ket raping and killing unarmed ooman females. He had to report it to the Elders on his hunt. They helped each other survive the Hard Meat Trial, and then he sentenced him to death. It was difficult for him. He never wants to do it again, but he will if necessary. Guan-Thwei does not want you to become a Badblood. He really would kill you if you ever became one. He'd see it as a personal betrayal. I was quite young Meh'ket was killed. I watched them do it. He couldn't even salvage a bit of honor by killing himself. The Elders had to do it for him. He took ages to die." They walked in silence back to Guan-Thwei's chambers. Guan-Thwei practically killed his own friend, Matt thought wonderingly. Poor him.


	13. Chapter 13

_At long last I have updated! Yay! Sorry for the wait, I have diploma exams now and they are long and unpleasant. I've mostly finished now, so expect more updates. I have also overcome my writer's block and finished X-13! I'll start updating that soon too. Enjoy and gimme lots of reviews!!!!_

_Pyode Amedha-Soft meat, human._

_Pauk- Fuck._

_Ki'cti-pa- Wristblades._

_Ki'its-pa- Retractable spear._

_Bakuub- Straight Spear._

_Guan-Thwei- Night blood._

_Thwei-Tjau'ke- Bloodstone._

_Setg'in-kwei- Quick and sly._

_Ki'cte- Enough._

_Awu'asa- Full armor._

_Naxa- A type of fruit._

Chapter 13

Matt and Thwei-Tjau'ke were loitering along the hallways of the ship, exchanging ideas about his mask and wrist gauntlet. They carefully avoided the subject of the self-destruct devices.

"What if you put the trigger for the plasma caster on the inside of the wrist so I can just bend my hand to reach it? It could just be a little piece of metal and you could fix the ki'cti-pa so the blades wouldn't extend when I flexed my hand."

"Hmmm… That might just work. I might do that on all the ki'cti-pa I make now-if it works. That would be easier than having the spare trigger on the wrist computer." They rounded the corner and saw three blooded warriors. They looked to be about the same age as Thwei-Tjau'ke, but did not have a welcoming look like he did.

"Hey! Pyode Amedha!" shouted one. "Why don't you train with us instead of the cripple? You'll just wind up like that if you listen to him!" Thwei-Tjau'ke's face hardened and rage flamed in his eyes. He stood taller and leaned less on his spear. He jutted out his chin and flared his lower mandibles slightly.

He hissed to Matt, "Don't listen to them. Let's go. They only want trouble." However, Thwei-Tjau'ke's eyes never left the new Yautja.

Another warrior smiled cruelly and sneered, "Poor old Thwei-Tjau'ke couldn't even kill himself after he was wounded. He dragged himself to the ship and begged us to take him with us becau-YARG! HURK!"

Thwei-Tjau'ke tackled the strange warrior with a cry of "LIAR!!!" He landed a good punch to the other Yautja's face before he was dragged off. The crippled warrior reached behind him and threw the grabber over his shoulder and into the one that was lying on the floor. He began kicking the offenders with his prosthetic leg while they struggled to sort themselves out. One reached out with both hands and grabbed his leg, twisting viciously. Thwei-Tjau'ke fell and began pounding on them as soon as he landed. Assorted yelps and curses came from the three fighting warriors. The two strange Yautja hit each other as often as they hit Thwei-Tjau'ke. Matt and the last warrior stood by helplessly, exchanging nervous glances.

"KI'CTE!" roared a new warrior, "ENOUGH!" Not only was this an Elder, this was a female Elder! She stomped over and kicked the fighters a couple times, when the fighting slowed, she reached in and dragged them apart by their dreadlocks. Thwei-Tjau'ke was in one hand and the strangers in the other. She pulled up remorselessly as she yelled, "What are you?!? Youngbloods?!? If you have a conflict, settle it in the kehrite, not in the halls! Thwei-Tjau'ke, I'm amazed that you let them provoke you into fighting! If I catch you fighting again, you'll have less status than a New Blood!" She snarled and threw them apart, stalking off with her cloak swirling. The strangers slowly got up, groaning at their wounds and tender scalps. They scurried away without so much as a backward glance.

Thwei-Tjau'ke pulled himself slowly to the wall and leaned against it. He straightened his leg and glared when it moved jerkily. He sighed, then grasped the limb around the thigh and twisted the whole thing off. It detached from a port set into his hip. Matt winced and shuddered as Thwei-Tjau'ke fiddled with his leg; there was something disturbing with being able to remove your own leg and hold it across your lap. Thwei-Tjau'ke finally finished and re-attached the limb. He got up slowly, holding his scarred side and leaning heavily on the wall. Thwei-Tjau'ke grimaced and stretched. Matt wordlessly handed him his spear, the crippled warrior took it gratefully.

"Thwei-Tjau'ke…" The warrior cocked his head to the side. "Can you teach me to fight like that? I think it would be important for me to learn to use my opponent's strength against them. Please? It'll come in handy, when-if I become a blooded warrior because I know that other warriors will want to challenge me to see if I'm as good as they are." Thwei-Tjau'ke stopped his slow, painful, limping walk and looked at Matt.

"You know that after today, when you pick up your armor, you'll be worked harder than ever before, right?"

"Yes." replied Matt.

"I will teach you if you survive. Fighting like that is no good against Hard Meat." Matt fidgeted for a moment after they continued walking.

"Um, why don't you hunt anymore if you can fight like that?"

"I'm not as fast as I used to be-at least for long stretches. I'm also a bit sloppy with this leg because the Hard Meat's blood destroyed a lot of nerves. The muscles on the damaged side are weaker and cramp easily." He sighed and added, "I tried to hunt again after I healed, but it was no use; I simply could not keep up with the rest of the hunters. I can still put other cocky warriors in their place though. Not an Elder or someone who knows how I fight, but Youngbloods and young warriors are easy. Enough talk. You have to pick up your armor and weapons." he added cryptically, "You must save your strength for later…"

…..

Matt stood in front of a large sheet of metal polished to mirror brightness for him. He didn't look like Matt anymore; he didn't even look human! He was dressed in all his armor and weapons. The mask hid his face, rendering him eerily anonymous. The large plates of armor accented his wide shoulders and muscles. He looked grim and spiky. Oh yes, this was definitely a change from the scrawny, underweight, gangly human that had snuck aboard a Yautja's ship so many months ago! He liked the change a lot! Matt reached around and pulled out various weapons to flourish and put back, getting used to their placement. Then Matt removed his mask, brushing a long, shaggy clump of hair back. He turned to the assembled Yautja.

"You like?" inquired Guan-Thwei.

"Yeah! This is so cool! Thank you, Thwei-Tjau'ke!"

The weapons-maker smiled slightly and replied, "I did not do all the work. M'yin-de made all the armor. I just did the technology."

All of a sudden, Bakuub strode into the room and barked, "M'aat-hew! Setg'in-kwei! In the kehrite NOW!" They yelped and glanced at Guan-Thwei and Thwei-Tjau'ke. Guan-Thwei raised his brow and gave them a look. They followed the female out and ran to keep up with her brisk pace.

"Get running laps. Now. Your training starts today."

Setg'in-kwei shot a grin at Matt and whined, "But we've been training for months! How come you're saying it starts now?"

Bakuub growled, "I should swat you for your insolence… Your hard training starts now; before this you have never worn all the armor and weapons. This time you will feel a difference. I want you to be able to fight as long and as well as you could before the full awu'asa. Longer. Go on!" They shrugged and started jogging around the arena.

Twenty minutes later, Matt was ready to die. Everything was relatively light, but it made a huge difference. Setg'in-kwei was not much better off either.

"I… have… slacked off… too… much!" gasped the Yautja.

"Uh-huh!" agreed Matt. Bakuub was wearing full gear as well and was still quite fresh, jogging effortlessly beside them.

"STOP!" she bellowed. Matt and Setg'in-kwei collapsed gratefully. "Oh no you don't! If you stop now you'll cool off too fast and cramp. Get up and start sparring!" They groaned and took out their ki'its-pa. Bakuub kept them running and fighting for what seemed like hours; she only let them rest for short and random periods of time. The most she ever let them rest was maybe ten minutes and the least about a minute. It was usually the latter. Eventually they were allowed to stop. Matt and Setg'in-kwei immediately split up to go to their respective rooms. Matt barely had the energy to remove and hang up his new armor before collapsing into unconsciousness.

…..

Matt woke to Guan-Thwei shaking him. He groaned and rolled over, gaining a cuff on the shoulder.

"What the pauk do you want?!?"

"Bakuub wants you up and dressed and ready for more training immediately." With that, Guan-Thwei turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Matt got up, feeling like he had been hit repeatedly by a car. He pulled on his gear slowly and painfully and limped out. Matt refused to start training without eating anything, so he headed to the kitchens. There he found Setg'in-kwei scowling around at life in general as he chewed on a naxa. The Yautja tossed a naxa to Matt, who sat down as well.

"They don't pay us enough for this…" Matt muttered in English. Sometime later, as they worked their way through several more naxa, Bakuub herself came up.

"Get!" she snarled. Matt was about to chance a sarcastic remark, when he caught her expression. He dropped the half-eaten fruit and followed her out. Another Youngblood stood at the door and followed them.

The kehrite had five other Youngbloods ranged around it. Matt was very glad that there was another Yautja that was late. A couple other Youngbloods looked as tired and sore as they felt. Bakuub got them to split off into partners to practice fighting with ki'cti-pa after making them warm up. She didn't let them always use the same partners, but Matt found that he, Setg'in-kwei and another Yautja were usually not picked first. Matt was not a favored partner because he was an ooman, Setg'in-kwei because he was friends with an ooman and the other Yautja because he was undersized; the other was not taller than Matt's own 6'2 and was extremely twitchy, nervous and cringy from being harassed and picked on all his life. Matt was not fond of the other Yautja, whose name was Ni'il-este, but pitied him because he was so mistreated.

…..

Matt had convinced Setg'in-kwei to have additional training sessions and now wanted to include Ni'il-este. Setg'in-kwei was against this.

"Why can't we help him? He's the worst fighter I've ever seen! If he doesn't get some help soon, he'll never survive the Kainde Amedha Chiva!" Setg'in-kwei sighed and shook his head.

"M'aat-hew, Ni'il-este will not survive the Trial. He is inferior, a weakling. He should never have become a Youngblood. The Hard Meat Trial weeds out those who are too weak to survive. No matter what we do, he will die."

"It's not right to assign him his fate like that!"

"Help him if you want, I will not. He knows that he will die soon, I know, everyone knows and you know too, but your ooman stubbornness won't let you accept that! I don't understand why you have to help him. Leave me out of this!" Setg'in-kwei stalked off. Matt growled and went to find Ni'il-este.


	14. Chapter 14

_Enjoy this chapter! I didn't pick the armor colors for any specific reason; I just picked them because they needed to stand out from each other. Don't complain about the speech because I'm not very good at writing them. Please review!_

_Cetanu- God of death, the Black Warrior._

_Awu'asa- Full suit of armor._

_Kainde Amedha Chiva- The Hard Meat Trial, Blooding Hunt._

_Kainde Amedha- Hard Meat._

_M-di H'chak/M-di H'dlak- No mercy/No fear._

_Thwei-Tjau'ke- Bloodstone._

_Guan-Thwei- Nightblood._

_Setg'in-kwei- Tricky and quick._

_Bakuub- Straight Spear._

Chapter 14

Matt's stomach was clenched into a knot of fear and excitement. Tomorrow he would leave for the Kainde Amedha Chiva. He had hardly been able to sleep for days, but it still came all too fast. He had not even been able to really enjoy the feast held in the Youngblood's honor, though there was elaborate food and plenty of drink and entertainment. He tied back his now shoulder length hair with a piece of leather thong, then began to put on his armor. Months of training were now going to be all that would save him. That and luck. Matt finished readying himself and marched out to wait for Setg'in-kwei and the others.

The air was filled with the powerful, musky scent of the Yautja, laced slightly with fear. Most of the Youngbloods were clicking their mandibles softly and clenching their fists, standing stiff and breathing slightly faster than normal. The eight young warriors-to-be stood waiting for the Elders to come down and give their speech or whatever it was they would do. The door slid open and the Elders filed in, dressed in full ceremonial armor. There was the female that had stopped Thwei-Tjau'ke's fight. She was wearing dark gray armor, etched with symbols in red, and trimmed in lighter gray. There was an ancient but still powerful male, dressed in dark green armor, trimmed in black. M'yin-de looked grim, dressed in black armor trimmed with red and etched with red symbols. She reminded Matt of the tapestries of the Black Warrior, Cetanu. Lastly and most surprisingly, Bakuub filed in, wearing pale gray armor, etched with dark gray symbols and trimmed in dark gray. They all wore their scarlet cloaks. Matt winced as he thought of all the times he had been rude or teasing or insolent or just generally a pain to her! She could have had them killed or demoted to eta or beaten or something horrible! Setg'in-kwei hissed softly in surprise. They silently handed a self-destruct device to each Youngblood. Matt swallowed and clipped his to his arm. The ancient male stepped back, looked them over and began to speak.

"You are now ready for your Kainde Amedha Chiva. We have given you these bombs because we now hope you are mature enough to use them. There is a good chance that none will live through this. It has happened before. You will then be expected to destroy yourselves and the Kainde Amedha. Or, you may all survive, if the gods so choose. Do not hold back. Kill without mercy. Be ruthless and remember, 'M-di H'chak/M-di H'dlak.'" The Youngbloods turned as one and began a silent march into the smaller ship where they would be transported to Earth for the Trial. Matt glanced at Setg'in-kwei, who looked surly. He looked at all the others in various stages of terror or anger. Poor Ni'il-este was pale and disheveled. He was hyperventilating and looked like he was about to bolt or faint. Matt knew how he felt.

…..

The Youngbloods were silent as they headed to the small kehrite for one last, short training session or to their rooms to enter their sleeping pods immediately. Matt was in his room, hurriedly stripping himself of his awu'asa so he would not have to remain conscious and dwell on his nervousness. He stepped into the overlarge pod and was asleep almost immediately.

…..

Guan-Thwei readied himself for the long journey to Earth as well. He was going to follow the ship to Earth and surprise Matt, if he survived, with a visit to his sister. The warrior wasn't entirely sure if this was allowed, but if anyone asked, he was going to hunt any escaped Hard Meat, since that did happen. He sighed and rubbed his forehead; Guan-Thwei didn't know why he spent so much time and energy on the ooman. Matt frequently irritated him and it was not that likely he would survive… He shrugged, oh well, he thought, perhaps he saw himself in Matt, and he was fond of him. Then Guan-Thwei stepped into the cockpit of the ship and began piloting it out of the hanger.


	15. Chapter 15

_New and very easy semester for school, which means less homework for me and more updates! I'll also have a sequel to one of my stories up in a few weeks! Yay! _

_Finally, the exciting part! I hope you like this chapter and give me lots of reviews because I'm hoping for at least 100 for this story! Remember the purple button!_

_Awu'asa-Armor._

_Kainde Amedha-Hard Meat._

_Setg'in-kwei-Tricky and quick._

_Kainde Amedha Chiva-Hard Meat Trial._

_Ooman-Human._

_Ki'cti-pa-Wristblades._

_Ki'its-pa-Retractable spear._

_Naginata-Most prized weapon a Yautja can have. It has a blade that can detach into 2 short, curved swords and its own cloaking device._

Chapter 15

Matt awoke suddenly as the door to the sleep pod lifted open. All at once, his fear and excitement rushed back. The fear churned his stomach, but his excitement was enough to overcome that: If he lived, he'd be famous! Matt wanted to fight, to prove he was as good as any Yautja. He began to do his pre-battle stretches and once finished, began to put on his awu'asa.

Several minutes later he started for the main rooms but saw Ni'il-este out of the corner of his eye as he passed another armory. Ni'il-este gasped and retreated further into the room. Matt followed. The undersized warrior stank of fear. His armor was skewed. He was pale and trembling.

"Leave me alone!" hissed Ni'il-este, flaring his mandibles slightly and trying to look fierce.

"No." replied Matt, "Let me help you. You can't fight like that! Most of your armor is too loose!" Matt advanced on a frightened Ni'il-este and began tightening straps and re-positioning plates despite Ni'il-este's protests. Afterwards, the Yautja looked thankful.

"M'aat-hew… Could I, could I stay with you and Setg'in-kwei? I feel better and safer around you two. You aren't cruel to me. I actually feel like I may have a chance in the Chiva." He shifted nervously and said softly, "The other Youngbloods and younger warriors have a contest going on. They are betting whether you or I will be the first cull. Even the blooded warriors have no respect for me. You two are one of the few. Please let me stay with you!"

Matt growled and replied, slight anger in his voice, "Yeah, of course! We had better hurry though, or we won't get to eat before we go." They left and Matt decided that he would prove these stupid warriors wrong! How could they assign fates like that? Even Ni'il-este believed that he had no chance! The Youngbloods could be as cruel as playground bullies!

…..

Ni'il-este refused to eat anything and just worried his food into shreds with his clawed hands. Most of the other Youngbloods were ravenous and shoveled down the food, to keep up their strength in the long battle ahead. It was likely to be the last meal of many. Once they finished, they put on their masks and headed to the ejection pods. Matt strapped himself into the one next to Setg'in-kwei's, tightening the straps as much as he could. Padded bars came down over him and locked in place, reminding him of roller coaster restraints. He held the bars in a death grip as the door closed; his idea of fun was not plunging thousands of feet through the atmosphere to crash land to a stop. A click echoed through the metal. Matt managed to draw in half a breath before the pod dropped, accelerating wildly! He clenched his teeth as he fought the scream that struggled to force its way up his throat. It was difficult as his stomach was still back somewhere on the ship and the pod was shuddering violently!

Finally, the hellish descent ended and the door slowly opened. Hot, moist jungle air rushed in. He inhaled the fragrant air deeply as the restraints released. He was home, sort of. Matt looked around as his masked registered animal and bird calls. He glanced about the small clearing where he landed, then switched on his cloaking device. Matt began walking in wider and wider circles, looking for the other pods. Eventually he found Setg'in-kwei and the two searched for the remaining Youngbloods.

…..

After the group had assembled, they followed a signal in their masks to a huge hill. Matt was confused; this was supposed to take place in a pyramid!

"Setg'in-kwei, where's the pyramid? I don't see it!"

"That is the pyramid. The trees have grown up over it. Come on, foolish ooman, the entrance is right over there." Setg'in-kwei pointed to a clump of bushes and trees. Matt squinted at it, then shrugged and started walking. After drawing closer, he saw a heavy stone door, overgrown with moss and creepers. A huge female Youngblood, the only one on the Trial, extended her ki'cti-pa and began clearing the entrance. She stepped back after clearing the door of plant life. Deep, ancient carvings were revealed. Two masked Yautja knelt facing each other and holding crossed naginatas. An odd, serpentish animal was curled in the centre just below where the naginatas met. It had sharp teeth and a crest. The symbol of their clan was carved above the naginatas, a twisting 'T'-like shape. The door was edged with comb-like ridges and writing. The female, Gts'paik, pressed a button on her wrist computer and the door slowly ground open. Cool air flowed out and Matt shivered involuntarily. The warriors-to-be headed into the foreboding darkness.

Matt squinted around the blackness. A small amount of light came through the door, but not enough to illuminate anything but a few feet of dusty stone floor. Matt felt a twinge of panic, how was he supposed to see where to step, let alone the Kainde Amedha! He was about to voice his concerns to Setg'in-kwei when he remembered to different vision modes. He flushed hotly and switched on an infrared one, hoping no Youngblood was looking at him. Matt was glad he hadn't said anything, since he didn't want to be teased again. A huge room was instantly revealed, eerily lit in green and greenish white. They headed in deeper, through the room and into the corridors. Suddenly, stone ground and the very walls began shifting! Setg'in-kwei, Matt and Ni'il-este jumped back as one out of the way of an enormous block. It crunched into place with a deep bang that shook in their very bones. They were alone.

Sometime later, a scream echoed faintly, cutting off far too abruptly.

"Gods." murmured Setg'in-kwei, "It's begun." They drew their weapons and cranked up the volume in their masks. Faint clicks, skitterings and hisses were suddenly audible, growing closer. Ni'il-este was hyperventilating again and the smell of Yautja musk hung heavy in the air. Matt wiped his sweaty hands on his legs and gripped his spear tighter. Suddenly the sounds stopped.

"They must be gone now." said Ni'il-este, obvious relief in his voice. Setg'in-kwei clicked softly and scanned the room. He snarled in surprise and Matt spun. A hideous, long skulled creature was clinging to the wall. It bared glistening teeth and hissed, tensing. Suddenly, it leapt for Setg'in-kwei! The Yautja brought up his ki'its-pa and blocked the Hard Meat, flinging it away in the process! Acid blood dripped from a gash on the Hard Meat's shoulder and it shrieked ear-splittingly, leaping onto the wall again. Setg'in-kwei roared and followed it. A scream burst through the near silence! Matt whirled in time to see Ni'il-este dragged away by another Kainde Amedha! Bright blood splashed the ground as he clawed frantically at the wall before disappearing from sight. The pyramid began shifting again as all hell broke loose! They had been surrounded by Hard Meat! One dropped off the wall and hurled itself at Matt in two bounds. Pain bloomed on his shoulders as its claws dug deep. Matt found himself falling backwards into an opening pit. The last thing he saw was Setg'in-kwei's masked face.

"M'AAT-HEW!" he roared, extending a hand. Matt screamed as he plunged into the darkness, Hard Meat on top of him.

_Cackle! Cliffhanger! Don't you hate me:) Remember to review lots and lots!_


	16. Chapter 16

_Woohoo! Four day weekend! I might be able to update the entire story this weekend because I only have 2 more chapters after this one._

_Finally you get to see what happens after the cliffhanger! Enjoy and give lots of reviews! Also don't yell at me for what happens at the end._

_Congratulations to Kitty Felone, who gave me a title for this story that works! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! I also finally made over 100 reviews! More thanks to my readers! Ooh, many exclamation points…_

_Chiva-Trial._

_Guan-Thwei-Nightblood._

_Setg'in-kwei-Tricky and quick._

_Ki'its-pa-Retractable spear._

_Thwei-Tjau'ke-Bloodstone._

_Ell-osde'pauk-Fuck you!_

_Kainde Amedha-Hard Meat, Xenomorph._

_Nihkou'te-Tooth or tusk._

_H'sai-de-Curved sword._

Chapter 16

A Yautja warrior clicked softly to himself as he whittled away at a stick. Guan-Thwei thought of Matt, deep inside the pyramid, battling Kainde Amedha. He thought back rather fondly to his own Chiva. True, he had been badly wounded and if not for Nihkou'te and Meh'ket, he would be dead, but the wonderful feeling when he had killed his first could not be compared! The glory of that first hunt… Matt was lucky that he was fighting the Kainde Amedha, the most difficult prey they ever hunted, their true equals in battle. Guan-Thwei hoped the ooman would survive, so that he could think back to his Trial and tell Youngbloods about it, as Guan-Thwei did.

…..

Matt's scream was cut off abruptly as he hit the ground hard on his back. A squeal cut sharply through the musty air. Matt felt his raised spear break through something and the Hard Meat started to slide towards him. Matt suddenly remembered that Thwei-Tjau'ke had been crippled in much the same manner, trapped under a bleeding Kainde Amedha. He grunted and flung the thrashing beast off himself, rolling to avoid its lashing tail and claws. Blood hissed on his ki'its-pa tip and Matt shook off most of the acid before it could destroy the blade. The metal was only so resistant. Then he turned to the mortally wounded Kainde Amedha. It raised itself with its arms and shrieked, struggling clumsily to get up, with none of the grace it had possessed before. Something seemed to be wrong with its hind legs. Then it leaped, awkwardly.

Matt was ready and yelled "Ell-osde'pauk!" as he hurled the spear at it. The spear sank deeply into its head. The beast landed beside him and stumbled, then collapsed into a twitching hulk, hissing softly. Matt darted forward and yanked his ki'its-pa from its head and began stabbing it over and over again! Acid blood spattered Matt and he threw the spear away with a howl, swiping at the drops. Finally, they stopped burning. He was lucky they were only very small drops. He sat down, rubbing at his countless bruises, acid scores and cuts. He stared at the Hard Meat until it stopped twitching. Matt sucked in a breath. It was dead! He had killed his first Kainde Amedha! He had done it! He got up slowly and advanced on the black bleeding carcass. He prodded it a few times with his spear, just to be safe, then knelt and after scanning the room, removed his mask. He squinted at the shadowy ground; the natural phosphorescence was barely enough to see by. He cut off one of the claws and shook off the excess blood, then raised it to his brow with a trembling hand. This was really going to hurt! Matt gritted his teeth and growled as the blood burned a brand on his forehead. Then he put the same mark on his mask. Matt replaced the mask and stood, planting a sandaled foot on the carcass. Then Matt thrust his ki'its-pa into the air and yelled his triumph, shaking his head and laughing at the same time, overcome by emotion!

…..

He trotted along the maze-like halls of the pyramid. The plasma caster was sitting safely on his shoulder. Matt had already killed or wounded several Kainde Amedha on his way through the pyramid. Matt searched for Setg'in-kwei and the entrance. He stopped as the pyramid began shifting again, waiting until it was finished. A new hall was revealed. It was badly damaged, with great chunks of rock littering the ground. Luckily it looked like old damage. Matt took a few steps forward, eyes trained on a long, ridged tail and h'sai-de in hand. He raised the weapon and prepared to run the owner of the tail through when it turned. The Hard Meat didn't budge. Matt walked cautiously around the pillar and saw a very dead Kainde Amedha. It was missing its head and looked mummified. He shook his head and slid his h'sai-de back into the scabbard. Matt walked a short distance more through the hall; all around him was evidence of an old battle, probably the last Kainde Amedha. Suddenly, something clicked and rasped against the stone. Matt froze briefly and switched on his laser tracker with a twist of his lips. Matt turned until they rested on something alive. It sat up and got clumsily to its feet, staggering towards him. Matt turned off the laser and stared in shock at Ni'il-este.

His mask had been ripped off with great force, leaving the wiring hanging around his face. Parts of his armor had been burned and ripped off. Green blood was streaming from cuts all over his body, but especially from a massive gash on his right thigh and a wound across his abdomen. The Yautja breathed raspily in the thin, dry air.

"M'aat-hew! You have to help me! Please!" whimpered Ni'il-este, drawing closer and dragging his wounded leg.

"You're alive! I thought you were dead!" Matt answered incredulously. Ni'il-este had a black eye and a cut above it, still bleeding sluggishly.

"Please get me back to the ship. I need to go now!"

"Why? We can't leave until the Elders call us back. I'm lost anyway. What happened to you?" Matt looked nervously at his friend; he looked like a dog that was afraid of being kicked.

"You have to help me, to save me! When they caught me…" He trailed off, clutching his chest.

"I don't know where the exit is, I'm lost. You'll never make it!" hissed Matt as he put a hand on his sword.

"You're my friend, M'aat-hew. You stuck up for me, you have to help me!"

"I can't. I don't want another Hard Meat to deal with." His cruel words seared his throat and mouth as he spoke them. Ni'il-este's leg folded up and he collapsed. Matt didn't want to kill Ni'il-este and he couldn't keep him alive! He drew his sword and held out the leather wrapped handle to his friend, who had lost most of his weapons.

"No! Help me!" pleaded the Yautja, extending a hand. Matt was forcibly reminded of Guan-Thwei.

"You're a danger, Ni'il-este, you won't survive! Even if you do get back to the ship, the Elders will not remove it! They will kill you too! Please, do it honorably. I don't want to!" Matt cried. Ni'il-este whimpered and clutched at Matt's leg, begging incoherently. Matt raised the h'sai-de above the Yautja's back, but couldn't make it descend. "I'm sorry, Ni'il-este." He thrust it down through the Youngblood's torso. Ni'il-este roared as it impaled him. Matt withdrew it, but he still lived, twitching and coughing. He dropped the sword and knelt, turning his dying friend over and supporting his head. "I had to do it. Please understand." The Yautja coughed, blood dribbling over his spread mandibles. They waved feebly as he tried to talk. Matt held the Yautja's hand. Ni'il-este exhaled harshly and did not inhale again. Matt closed his friend's eyes and fell back against the wall. He removed his mask and cried into his hands.


	17. Chapter 17

_AHHH! One chapter to go! Thanks for all the reviews from the last chapter. I had no idea that Ni'il-este was such a popular character! Remember the little purple button!_

_Kainde Amedha Chiva-Hard Meat Trial, Blooding hunt._

_Setg'in-kwei-Tricky and quick._

_Guan-Thwei-Nightblood._

_Nihkou'te-Tooth or tusk._

_Ki'tis-pa-Retractable spear._

_Ki'cti-pa-Wristblades._

_H'sai-de-Curved sword._

_Pauk-de-Fucker or fucking._

_C'ntlip-Strong alcoholic beverage._

_Bakuub-Straight spear._

Chapter 17

Setg'in-kwei found Matt leaning against a stone pillar, staring listlessly at the body of a Yautja. Upon closer examination, he saw that it was Ni'il-este. He crouched and peered with concern at the ooman's face.

"What happened?" Matt sighed and rested his eyes on his friend.

"I killed him."

"Why?" said Setg'in-kwei.

"He had a young Kainde Amedha in him. I had to do it. Ni'il-este couldn't. He died by my own hands! By my own pauk-de hands! I'm a murderer!" Matt held up his hands for emphasis. They were still streaked with Yautja blood.

Setg'in-kwei rested a huge, taloned hand on Matt's shoulder and said softly, "You had to. He was dangerous and had to die. You prevented him from dying a much more painful death. Any honorable warrior would have done the same thing in your place." Then he glanced around and added, "You should get up now. Hard Meat are coming because of the blood. M'aat-hew! Are you listening?" Matt grunted and turned his mask over in his hands a few times. "Get ready to fight if you don't want to join Ni'il-este!" Shrieks and hisses echoed through the darkness. Matt jumped up and put his branded mask back on. Then he pulled out his Smart Disc as Setg'in-kwei pulled out shuriken. They stood ready, two new warriors, ready to kill.

The first few Hard Meat charged into view. They drooled and hissed, staring sightlessly at the two warriors. Matt threw his Smart Disc. The Hard Meat sensed it coming and tried to dodge, but the weapon was locked on. It sliced the beast in half. Shuriken spun through the air. One missed and bounced off a pillar, while the other ripped a gash along a Kainde Amedha's flank and whirled back. The warriors attacked the advancing Hard Meat with airborne weapons until they became so covered in blood that they were dangerous to use. Then Matt and Setg'in-kwei brought out their other weapons. Setg'in-kwei had his ki'its-pa and Matt his h'sai-de because his own spear had been destroyed. The human and Yautja fought the Kainde Amedha, watching each other's backs, fighting in deadly unison. The few remaining creatures suddenly stopped attacking, seeming to respond to some silent signal, and disappeared into a shaft. The warriors panted and shook their weapons off. After Matt caught his breath, he walked over to where his Smart Disc lay and prodded it gingerly with the tip of his sword. It was sparking slightly, pocked and dulled by the acid. Because most Youngbloods didn't take a Smart Disc with them, this was a lower quality one. It did not have the high acid tolerance of the better ones and was ruined. The only reason Matt had one was because of his abysmal skills with shuriken.

"We should go." hissed Setg'in-kwei, "They will be back with more."

"What about Ni'il-este?"

"The Elders will come through here and collect the culls when they kill the last Kainde Amedha. Let's go!" Matt looked one last time at his fallen friend's body before he fled.

…..

Matt and Setg'in-kwei hurried through the shifting pyramid. They picked off lone Kainde Amedha as they searched for the entrance. They walked cautiously into each new room, but most were empty or filled with the remains of an old battle. In one they encountered a gruesome sight. Dozens of stone blocks radiated around a central mosaic. On each one was a dead human, chained tight. An empty Hard Meat egg was between each one's legs. Matt looked at the bodies. Each one had had its chest torn open violently. Matt knew that would have been Ni'il-este's fate as well. Setg'in-kwei eyed Matt carefully as they passed through the death-filled room.

"Stop looking at me that way. I'm not going to freak out. I didn't know any of them and I knew about this room. I understand that you think of humans as prey and think that they are the best to breed Hard Meat in." Setg'in-kwei clicked sheepishly. "Feel that?" said Matt. "Fresher air. We must be getting closer to the entrance." Soon they came to it. Matt groaned, "I wish we could leave now and didn't have to wait for the Elders…" Setg'in-kwei produced a small device and attached it to a large stone at the door.

"Now we'll be able to find it easily again." he explained. Matt grinned as they headed back into the depths of the pyramid.

…..

Hot blood splattered the ground as Matt neatly removed the head of a Kainde Amedha with his ki'cti-pa. Looping a special acid-proof rope around it, he slung it over his shoulder and turned to Setg'in-kwei. He too had a trophy on his back.

"Ready?" said Matt.

"Yes, the Elders are waiting." The two new warriors turned and navigated the twisting walls of the pyramid, following the signal in their masks to the Elders and the entrance.

The four elders were standing at the entrance. Another Youngblood, no, she'd be a warrior now, was facing the Elders, standing at attention. Matt knew that Gts'paik would survive. He really could not see the serious Yautja failing at anything. They stood in place beside her and waited for any others to come. Setg'in-kwei admired the large skull on her back. It was different; the head was ridged and larger than theirs. At long last a final Yautja limped to the entrance. His leg was viciously torn and had several clamps in the wounds. Matt winced. At least not all of the screams were from dying Yautja. The Elders greeted them warmly, shaking each new warrior's shoulder and making a soft purring, growling noise. Bakuub led them out while the others started into the pyramid, drawing their weapons.

Matt blinked his eyes watering fiercely from the sun's bright rays. The ship they had arrived in waited for the new warriors. Beside it was a much smaller and more familiar ship. Guan-Thwei was leaning against the door. He waited until they were close before chuckling and shaking their shoulders in congratulations.

"M'aat-hew, do you want to see your sister? I'll take you, if you want."

"Yeah! Thank you!" Guan-Thwei turned to Setg'in-kwei. "Do you want to come too? I'm going back to the clan ship after." The young Yautja nodded and they headed into the small ship.

…..

"What do you think?" asked Matt as he adjusted the newly cleaned skull on a spare trophy rack.

"It's a bit bare. Get a few more before boasting to any females." said Setg'in-kwei thoughtfully. "Actually, you should grow more and fix your hair before showing off to any females. I don't understand why you keep it like that, always getting dirty, tangled, sweaty…" He shook his head, dreadlocks flying. "Get Bakuub to do it. She won't take too long." Matt ran a hand through his hair and grimaced.

"Hell, no! I know how you do that! You make the scalp bleed and it takes months. I'll keep my hair like this, thank you very much! Besides, I'm not going to be showing off to any of your females. They'd chew me up and spit me out." Setg'in-kwei laughed.

"I could see that happening to you too!"

"Ha-ha, very funny. Let's go see Guan-Thwei."

Setg'in-kwei cackled and called after Matt, "Running from a little teasing? I thought you were used to it. After all, you did hang out with Nihkou'te all through training. I highly doubt that you escaped his clutches without a few jokes at your expense!"

…..

Guan-Thwei sat in one of the big leather chairs in the eating area of the ship. He watched as Setg'in-kwei and Matt walked in. Both had identical brands on their foreheads. Bruises dotted them everywhere, showing as bright spots. They had stitched and cauterized the gashes, some with Kainde Amedha blood, some the more conventional way. He smiled. They reminded him of himself and Nihkou'te. He reached out and grabbed a bottle of c'ntlip pouring some into three of the bowl-like cups that the Yautja used. The newly blooded warriors sat down and pulled the cups towards themselves. Setg'in-kwei gingerly took a sip of the strong beverage and grimaced. Matt lifted up the cup and blinked at it, looking unhappy; Guan-Thwei had given him considerably less. The ooman took a large gulp and nearly choked! He turned color and spluttered, trying to hold back suppressed coughs and swallow at the same time. Several minutes went by before he fully regained control.

Setg'in-kwei held back a grin as Guan-Thwei asked, "Like it? I thought you should have some to celebrate."

Matt replied weakly, "It's good. I like it…What is it?" Setg'in-kwei snorted.

Guan-Thwei rumbled, "C'ntlip. Very good c'ntlip too." Matt shot a glare at Setg'in-kwei, whose mandibles were quivering with suppressed laughter.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Nothing." he snorted, "You just looked like you were going to be sick! Never gulp c'ntlip like that, especially since you are such a runt!" Matt scowled and took a much, much smaller and more careful sip. Guan-Thwei leaned forward and swirled his drink.

"Tell me about your Chiva. How did it go?" Setg'in-kwei and Matt exchanged looks and began telling the older warrior about their Trial.


	18. Chapter 18

_Sorry for the long delay; I just hadn't gotten around to typing this! It's a very long chapter, so I hope you enjoy. I have a sequel started already, so give me lots of reviews if you want it posted fast. Enjoy!_

_Awu'asa- Full suit of armor._

_Guan-Thwei-Night blood._

_Setg'in-kwei-Tricky and quick._

_Ki'its-pa-Retractable spear._

_Lou-dte kalei-Child bearer, derogatory slang term for females._

_S'yuit-de- Shit, derogatory term._

Chapter 18

Matt sat up with a groan. Every muscle protested his movement. The newly stitched wounds and burns felt tight and hot. His head pounded from the c'ntlip he had last night and he was horribly thirsty. Matt stood slowly and began to stretch and perform his morning exercises.

Later he walked into the armory to find Guan-Thwei in it, finishing putting on his own awu'asa.

"Hurry, M'aat-hew. We are here and need to start watching the house." Matt adjusted his ragged but still perfectly functional netting.

"How do you know where she is? I only have a vague idea myself." He smirked and waved a small device.

"I put a tracking device under her bed. I can get up to only a few noks from it."

"I never would have thought of that." murmured Matt.

"I know." replied Guan-Thwei with a touch of arrogance. "That is why I am the experienced warrior and you are not." he said smoothly. Matt growled to himself as he finished putting on his pitted armor.

"Hey, can I get M'yin-de to repair this when I get back?"

"Yes. But because you are a warrior now, she will expect you to repay her somehow."

"With what? I don't have anything!" The older Yautja sighed and rubbed his face.

"With things she needs, skulls, other interesting foreign things, work or credit. Knowing her, she will charge interest and it is difficult to find things that she does not already have." Guan-Thwei removed a ki'its-pa and a Smart Disc from his weapons rack and tossed them to Matt.

"What's this for?" asked Matt as he scrambled to catch them.

"You lost yours didn't you? Take these. I have extra."

"Uh, thanks!" Just then, Setg'in-kwei walked into the room, looking cranky. He clicked and growled, then began putting on his own armor. Once they finished, the three warriors turned on their cloaking devices and headed out into the sunlight.

…..

The first thing Matt noticed once he was out of the ship was that it seemed very cold. The Yautja shivered a little as well. They were not used to low temperatures and rarely had to endure them, Matt had at least been born and grown up here. The trees were turning color, so that meant it was only fall! Matt usually wouldn't even have been wearing a sweater by then! Nevertheless, he was glad for his new dark grey cloak. Guan-Thwei and Setg'in-kwei had donned theirs as well; Guan-Thwei in a black cloak and Setg'in-kwei in an identical grey one. They muttered and turned on the thermal regulators. Matt decided to tough it out. The warriors followed Guan-Thwei and his tracking device to a large two-story house. It was old and surrounded by a huge yard, rare for the city and immaculately tended. Matt had never been to this particular friend's house and had only a sketchy idea of where it was. No one was home, so the climbed into one of the massive oak trees in the back. Matt watched with envy as the Yautja jumped easily into the branches and swung themselves up. He shimmied up awkwardly, wishing for claws and a natural ease in the trees like theirs. Once they were arranged in the broad branches, Matt pulled out the deck of cards he had made so many months age as an eta and began teaching Setg'in-kwei how to play War.

Hours later, voices reached Matt's ears. Celia and Jessica, the friend she lived with had now arrived home. His heart ached to go see her; he had not missed her or felt this much homesickness since he was an eta. He felt bad that his sister had not been in his mind lately.

Guan-Thwei dropped silently down beside Matt and hissed, "She has changed a lot." Lee had indeed. She wasn't dressed as a tomboy anymore and now wore what she had previously described as 'slut wear'. She and her friend were talking about inane, shallow things; the latest fashions, what the girls at school had done with their boyfriends, who was the hottest. Matt lowered himself down onto a new branch as Lee and Jessica fumbled with the gate.

"PSST!" he hissed as they passed under the under the tree, "LEE!" He gave the branch a little shake, then froze. She looked directly at his warped form among the gold leaves and paled.

"What's the matter?" asked her friend.

"N-nothing. Just go in. I'll be their in a sec." Her friend peered at the tree, shrugged and walked up the path. The door banged open and shut. Matt jumped out of the tree and ran behind the garden shed. Lee followed.

"OMIGOD! Matt, is that you!" she squealed. Matt turned off his cloaking device. "Oh!" Celia said, looking at his awu'asa. He reached up and unfastened the mask.

"It's me." Brother and sister hugged each other happily. Lee reached up and gently brushed the brand on his brow, then the raised scar on his cheek. "I did it! I'm a warrior now! I just came from by Kainde Amedha Chiva!" At her blank look, he explained. "The Hard Meat Trial. My blooding hunt. The scar on my forehead shows that I am a warrior now."

"Look at you!" Celia exclaimed. "You look _great_! Every girl would want you now. You gotta come to my party tomorrow night. You'll make people jealous." Guan-Thwei and Setg'in-kwei uncloaked.

Celia gave a little jump, then smiled and said. "Hey Guan-Thwei. Didn't see you there. How are you? Who's the other guy?"

"I am good. That is Setg'in-kwei." Matt made the introductions, translating them into Yautian for Setg'in-kwei.

"So who is this guy?" asked Celia. "Setg'in-kwei is my friend. We helped each other and saved each other's lives more than once. Soon, we're going to be formally accepted as blooded warriors on the Homeworld."

"Cool. When are you going?" Matt nervously ran his hand through his hair and bit his lip.

"Actually, er, we have to leave really soon… I won't be able to go to your party." Matt had a nasty feeling what the party was for.

"W-what? But it's my birthday party."

"I know. I have to go to this though. There's no way to get out of this without serious dishonor." Celia stared dumbstruck at her brother. Her rejection swiftly turned to rage. Matt steeled himself at the outburst he knew was to come.

"You go off for more than two years and pop in for a short visit to tell me that you can't go to my birthday party? What the hell has happened to you? Why is your precious ceremony more important than me, your remaining family? You are being such an ASS!" The Yautja glanced at each other, Setg'in-kwei didn't know what was being said, but knew that they were arguing about Matt's absence.

"Lee… I can't miss this!"

"Shut UP! Before I was important to you! You haven't asked how I have dealt with you just disappearing off the face of the Earth! You haven't had to deal with our father coming by, drunk, in the middle of the night! Why are these aliens so much more important than me? Lemme guess, you've screwed one of their females and have a little mutant family now?" Guan-Thwei gasped and spluttered with indignation. Matt's jaw dropped. Guan-Thwei growled sharply, clenching his fists and trembling in rage.

"CELIA! Do you know how badly you just insulted them?"

"I don't care! You hurt me! Almost two years without one word and then you won't even stay over night! I've had to deal with people and the police asking where you've been…" Her eyes filled with tears and her voice cracked. Once before, Matt would have caved into her desires, but no more. He stood tall.

"Celia. I'm not the only one who changed. You've changed too. One time you wouldn't be caught dead in those clothes. You weren't shallow. You were more understanding. Do you have any idea what I've gone through to get here?" Lee shook her head and sniffed. "I was a slave in a completely foreign society. I didn't know the language, customs, anything! I was beaten because of that. Later, even when I started training, I still was regularly beaten by other training warriors. I could have died in my Chiva; one of my friends did. Guess who had to deal the death blow to put him out of his misery? I did. I killed a friend less than two days ago and held him as he died and you are worried about a piddling little birthday party? You should be happy I'm even alive!" Matt shifted his shoulder armor and twisted to show her gougings on his shoulder and a ragged wound on his side. "Those injuries, if they were deeper, could have killed me and I wouldn't be here. You think your life is hard? Try living up to the standards of a Yautja warriors." Matt shook his head in disgust and turned away. "Good bye, Celia. I'll see you again later, if I don't die on an upcoming hunt." Matt replaced his mask and turned on his cloaking device and stalked away. Setg'in-kwei followed immediately, but Guan-Thwei stayed, staring at her with his emotionless mask for an uncomfortable moment. He growled and shook his head.

"Lou-dte kalei." he snarled before vanishing. Celia stood dumbstruck before running into the house.

…..

Back on the ship, as it ascended into space, Setg'in-kwei was trying to convince Matt to open the door to his chambers and explain exactly what had gone on. His only answer was a yelled curse and the sound of something, probably a piece of armor, hitting the door.

Matt pounded his fist into the wall, ignoring Setg'in-kwei's requests to unlock the door. A solitary tear escaped from his eye. How could Celia be that way? How could she not understand? He had chosen to do this and had to do some things. Matt angrily swiped at his eyes and stood up. He was not going to mope about this! She just wanted to hurt him enough to stay. Matt had once fallen for that. He opened the door; Setg'in-kwei stepped out of the way.

"Come on." he said as he brushed past.

Guan-Thwei was in a foul mood; Matt could smell his rage immediately. He sat down in one of the huge chairs beside the fuming Yautja. It didn't take long before he started venting.

"I thought that that ungrateful little s'yuit-de was good for an ooman! No, instead of being happy to see us, she insults all of us!" Guan-Thwei snarled. Setg'in-kwei looked confused. "I don't know how you put up with her for so long, M'aat-hew! If she wasn't your sister, if she wasn't female, I would have swatted her across the yard! Little lou-dte kalei…"

"Guan-Thwei!" exclaimed Setg'in-kwei upon hearing that vehement curse.

"Guan-Thwei, Lee didn't mean to do that. She had no idea how cruel it was. She wanted me to feel bad enough to stay. I am glad you didn't backhand her, even if she did deserve it." The older warrior snorted and started picking at his claws. "Celia will just have to learn that I will not always be there. Setg'in-kwei, I'll tell you everything in a minute." Matt got up again and walked into the kitchenette with Setg'in-kwei.

"So that's what she did? Glad I don't speak your ooman language or I would have lost it."

"Yeah. Lee can just get used to it. She has to know that I've chosen to do this and won't be able to concentrate on her." Setg'in-kwei smirked.

"Maybe you should give her the next trophy that you get."

Matt smiled despite himself, "I don't think she would like that much. When we get back from the Homeworld, we should pick the next hunt. There should be some good ones soon. Then, Setg'in-kwei, you can give her one of your trophies." Setg'in-kwei laughed and shook his head. Matt looked out the window at the slowly diminishing Earth, set into the blue-blackness of endless space.


End file.
